Teknomorphs 1: The Rival
by Cyblade Silver
Summary: The next story in the Teknomorphs series. Who is this new Teknoman? This story is now done!
1. Nightfall Missions

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Disclaimer: I do not own Tekkaman Blade, Teknoman, or Animorphs. SaraM and Alara, I hope you two enjoy this!

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Teknomorphs 1:

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The Rival

"I hate camping."

Amy Macmillan muttered, picking her way carefully through the dense brush. Her hair was tangled and some leaves had gotten stuck in it during her trek. Amy's so-called parents had dragged her out to this 'nice scenic hell' as she had frequently described it.

"Ya hear me?! _I hate camping!_"

Amy backfisted the bush she was stuck in and sighed in sheer frustration. This was getting her nowhere fast, she wasn't sure anymore that she could even _find_ her family's campsite now. Just then, Amy heard someone else crashing through the brush.

Gunnar was most assuredly _not_ in a good mood, as a branch snapped back to slap him in the face. Darkon, the leader of the small group of Teknomen currently on Earth, had sensed the presence of humans in the forest. Darkon had ordered Gunnar to find them, and "invite" them to come with him. Grabbing the annoying piece of foliage, Gunnar twisted it around until it snapped, then threw it contemptuously to the ground.

However, despite his far-superior night vision, he had gotten lost in this thicket. Angry and getting angrier by the minute, Gunnar spotted something that just _might _make this entire stupid trip worth something. There was a human stuck in the tangled branches of an overgrown thorn bush a few feet in front of him.

From the way the little one was struggling and complaining, it seemed that the thorns were digging into their skin. Some of them were probably snagged in the clothes as well. Gunnar forcibly pulled himself loose, ignoring the feeling of clothes and flesh tearing.

Gunnar slowly stepped up to the human, realizing only when he was close that a little girl was trapped in those thorns. Gunnar smiled; this was going to be interesting. He quick-walked over to her, careful to avoid the thorns himself.

Amy heard someone coming, not able to turn around and see them, she settled for something more practical:

"Who the hell are you?" Amy demanded.

"Me? I'm nobody, at least nobody special."

"Great, he speaks in riddles," Amy said, rolling her eyes.

"If you want, you can call me Fritz."

"Well, Fritz, I'd really like it if you'd pull me out of this damn thorn bush, if its not too much trouble," Amy bit off caustically.

"Gee, now why didn't I think of that?" Gunnar asked sarcastically. 

"So, what's your name?" Gunnar asked.

"Why d'you ask?" Amy demanded

"Idle curiosity," Gunnar retorted.

"Good answer. Name's Amy, Amy Macmillan."

"Fritz Wallace. Friends call me Fritzy."

"Fritzy, huh? Well Fritzy, since I seem to be a little lost, care to help me find my way?"

"I was wondering when you'd ask me that," Gunnar said, grinning in the darkness and secure in the knowledge that she couldn't see him.

Telling the girl his name was Fritz had been a half-truth. Fritz had been his name back when he was still human. Before the camping trip that had changed his life, and the lives of his closest friends.

Amy walked a few steps behind Fritz, she had no idea what had possessed her to ask him for help, and she really didn't care. Amy didn't care about much of anything anymore.

She made it a point not to.

Ever since her parents had gotten divorced and her mom had married some stupid self-help type loser, Amy had started to _really_ hate her mom.

When she was with her real dad, Amy hadn't ever really noticed her mom's existence. Her dad had been the one to raise her, and his friends were cool to be around. She'd been his little Hellcat. Or that was what he'd always called her.

They shared a love of the Beach Boys, and a common apathy toward her mother. And then her 'dear' mother had to go and screw all that up. And the nerve of her, marrying Joseph.

Joseph, King of the Losers, as far as Amy was concerned. Every word he said made Amy want to rip out his tongue and shove it up his ass. And his obsession with 'being Amy's friend' was sickening.

Fritz had offered to hold her hand, she'd basically said no.

Gunnar wondered what the deal was with this little girl. He'd asked if she wanted to hold his hand, so he could help guide her through the woods. She'd told him that if he touched her she'd break his jaw. Gunnar had had to fight to keep himself from laughing.

She had a fighter's spirit, he had to give her that. Still, Gunnar wondered if she would survive what was about to happen to her. She _did_ seem strong, but this just might be too much. As they picked their way through the almost pitch-black woods, Gunnar could hear Amy's muttered complaints.

He could also discern a steady stream of half-voiced obscenities. Most of them were directed at her stepfather and her mother, some at the forest, and some were directed at life in general. He sighed, almost chuckling.

"Little spitfire," he whispered.


	2. Captive

Back at the Radam base, Darkon was brooding again. He hated not being able to move anything below his waist, and on some level he was starting to think the situation would be permanent.

The thought of having to sit by and simply command, instead of charging into battle, gnawed at him until he wanted nothing more than to tear his body free from the weblike strands of the teknopod still clinging to it.

He restrained himself though, knowing that he hadn't been fully healed of the wounds somehow inflicted on him while he had been in hibernation. Darkon fumed, not knowing who had injured him while he was helpless, he couldn't very well hunt them down and rip them apart for sport. As much as he would like to.

Darkon looked over the first real batch of Teknopods, smiling under his helmet. One of them had already hatched, and two more were very close to hatching. The pods had captured twelve of these so-called humans, three had died. It didn't matter; nine was enough to start with.

***

Gunnar and Amy walked the rest of the way in silence, and Gunnar wondered if Amy's parents had ever taught her not to talk to strangers.

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Maybe she just doesn't care. Gunnar thought with a smirk. That was probably it, judging by the things that she had _called_ her parents.

Staring straight ahead, hands shoved firmly into her pockets, Amy tramped carelessly through the woods beside him. They had almost reached the halfway point on their trek, when Gunnar heard Darkon's telepathic 'voice'.

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Well Gunnar, I see you've managed to bring something home with you. I hope she lives up to our stringent requirements, Darkon seemed to be fairly amused.

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I'm sure she will, Gunnar answered, still a bit uncertain.

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No, you're not.

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I'm not, you're right. How do you do that? Gunnar asked.

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I'll explain it to you sometime, Darkon said offhandedly.

Gunnar stretched his arms, as Darkon fell silent and Amy started walking backwards.

"Yo, Fritzy! Why do I get the feeling that you're just as lost as I am?"

"I know where I'm going," Gunnar muttered.

Amy twirled, blue windbreaker fluttering around her like a short skirt.

"I'm not callin' you stupid or anything, I'm just saying we're both lost!"

"Stop shouting willya? It gets on my nerves," Gunnar snapped, unconsciously slipping into what he had deemed 'Fritz speak'.

"Bite me," Amy hissed, but she was a little quieter than before.

Gunnar shook his head, dismissing memories of the camping trip. Amy wasn't Cain, and Conrad wasn't there.

***

Darkon leaned back slightly, contemplating going back to sleep. It was so monotonous having to wait here in his little underground fortress while his newly hatched Teknoman Gunnar went about his mission. Letting his neck fall limply backwards, Darkon stared at the interwoven vines that formed the ceiling of his command base.

Thoughts of horribly bloody, violent revenge playing in his head.

***

Fritz hadn't said anything after telling her to be quiet, and Amy was starting to get bored. Amy ran a hand through her jet-black hair, then dropped her arms to her sides and started swinging them.

"Hey Fritz, really, do you have the _slightest_ notion where you're going?"

"Yes."

"Okay then, would you mind telling me?"

"I know someone who knows this forest like the back of his hand. He'll be able to help you."

"Oh," Amy said. "Cool."


	3. Wandering Thoughts

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When all else fails, lie like a shag rug. Gunnar mused, fighting the urge to laugh. Darkon wouldn't have helped Amy find her way out of the forest even if he _had_ the use of his legs. Pushing aside some tree branches, he held them until Amy had passed.

They picked their way through the black woods, crossing the remaining distance to Darkon's base. Once they had reached the site the ground opened beneath them. Dropping the two of them into what at first seemed to be a small hole dug by a rather clumsy hunter.

Gunnar had been expecting this, of course, and so he was quite able to land on his feet. Amy, however, was about as unprepared as anyone could be. She landed rather ungracefully on her butt.

"You could've warned me about that drop," she hissed.

"That would have spoiled the surprise."

The place was almost pitch black, lit only by the dim bioluminescence of the teknopods. Not nearly enough for human eyes, and Amy blinked like an owl in the stifling darkness.

***

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This place, whatever the hell it is, gives me the creeps. Amy thought, shivering slightly. Not that she's tell Fritz anytime soon, him or his mysterious friend. No one called Amy Macmillan a coward, not if she could help it anyway.

"You all right?" Fritz asked, his voice coming from somewhere to her left.

"Just fucking marvelous," she sneered.

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What a complete idiot. Amy thought, pulling some leaves out of her hair and combing it with her fingers to make sure there weren't any more.

***

Gunnar watched as Amy pulled the last leaf from her black hair. One of the teknopods had noticed her. Opening in a manner reminiscent of a venous flytrap, a long whiplike vine extended and quickly wrapped itself around her waist.

Snapping closed in much the same manner it had opened, and cutting off Amy's enraged screams, the pod filled with dark purplish-magenta fluid.

Smiling, Gunnar turned away from the newly occupied teknopod, quick walking through the maze of other pods. Standing in front of the pod that had until recently held him in deep hibernation, he looked to either side. On the right, completely nude and curled into a fetal position – like he himself was not so long ago – was a black haired boy.

Gunnar's smile softened, it was Ness. Although Fritz and Cain had been closer friends, it was next to impossible to get close to anyone in the Carter family without being drawn into it. Gunnar remembered comparing them to a black hole, once when he and Cain had been sitting out on their back porch just staring at the stars.

The two of them had a good laugh over that, and the younger twin had conceded the point. Fritz had assured Conrad, who had come out to stare at the stars for awhile too, that he had meant that in the best possible way. But he still hadn't managed to avoid the headful of noogies that the eldest of the Carter siblings had dealt him.

Gunnar ran a hand through his short blonde hair, leaning against the teknopod. In a low voice, and not caring that the currant occupant couldn't hear a word of it, Gunnar began to chitchat with him.

"Hey Ness, Darkon says it'll be awhile yet before you're out of there. It gets kind of claustrophobic in there doesn't it? Don't look at me like that, I was just stating a well known fact."

Gunnar paused, looking at Ness' eyes. Had his been closed that tightly? He couldn't be sure. Maybe he could go ask Darkon, but the Warlord had very little patience for stupid questions.

"Anyway, I guess you should know that I got a new name when I came out of there. Yeah, I'm called Gunnar now. I know it's a little strange. Hey! I never insulted your name, Loch Ness, okay so maybe I was thinking it, but I didn't say it."

Gunnar sighed softly, the smile vanishing. Giving Ness' pod one last look, he turned away and headed for his own. Divesting himself of his clothes, not particularly wanting this set to be disintegrated in the teknopod fluid the way his original outfit had been, he climbed back inside.

The stuff was warm and sticky, and Gunnar couldn't help feeling like he should be suffocating. But he was breathing somehow or other. He slowly drifted off to sleep, idly wondering what Ness' new name would be…

The next morning found the Radam base much the same way the night had left it. Amy's screams had quieted sometime during the night, and now the deep and ever-present serenity of the forest was unbroken once more.


	4. The Future, The Past

Meanwhile, a substantial distance from the Radam base, a large red barn sat waiting. This was not what most people would consider a normal barn. Once in the dim past it had been, but those days were long over by now.

It was now called the Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic, and the name spoke for itself. Cassie, the daughter of the man who managed the Clinic, was making a last round. Checking up on the sick and injured animals in their care before she had to go to school. Reaching the last cage, Cassie saw a folded newspaper lying on top.

Picking it up, she noticed that this was only one page, and one of the lower headlines had been circled in red. It read: Carter Family Vanishes in National Forest. Cassie didn't know who the Carter family was, but the article said they had been on a three-week camping trip with a few family friends when they had vanished.

Cassie paused, could the Yeerks have an outpost in the forest the Animorphs didn't know about? Or were they simply kidnapping people that wandered too far into the woods? Either way, Cassie felt compelled to tell the others about what she had found.

Putting the paper back on top of the cage, Cassie resolved to tell Rachel, her best friend, about what she had stumbled across. Rachel could tell the others, since they were supposed to keep up a pretense of strictly casual acquaintance while at school.

Fixing the headline in her memory, Cassie went back to her house to pick up her lunch money. Her father was waiting there to drive her to the bus stop. Opening the old screen door, Cassie grabbed her money off the kitchen table and hurried through the house to the living room. Her father was waiting for her there, he stood up and smiled.

"Morning, Cassie. Are you ready to go?"

"Yes, Dad. Thanks again for driving me."

"If I said it once I've said it a thousand times, Cass. There's no need to thank me. You're my daughter and I like to spend time with you."

Cassie smiled, feeling warm inside with the knowledge that her father meant every word he said. Grinning widely, Cassie's father led the way to his new truck. The old one having been decimated in a freak accident, or so he'd been led to believe.

In truth, the truck had been "borrowed" by her fellow Animorphs, and Marco had volunteered to drive. The end result of which was that the truck had ended up crashed in a ditch, the front window shattered and with numerous dents, scratches and dings in the body. It wasn't all Marco's fault, though Rachel was quick to tease him about his less-than-admirable driving skills.

The situation had been complicated by the fact that an alien insect swarm, called a _Veleek_ by the Yeerks, had been taken from the planet Saturn and programmed to track down and attack any source of morphing energy. The Animorphs had had a very rough few days trying to keep the creature from capturing them.

It was only when Marco discovered the _Veleek_'s weakness, and Cassie came up with a plan to utilize that information, that the Animorphs were able to destroy the _Veleek_.

Climbing into the passenger seat, Cassie buckled her seatbelt. Cassie's dad smiled at her and then they drove off. Once they reached the bus stop, Cassie kissed her dad on the cheek, undid her seatbelt and climbed out. Glad to be away from her dad's old Stevie Wonder CD's.

Jake was at the bus stop already, and Cassie stopped just short of walking up to him. She had a major crush on him, but she was still a bit too shy to admit it. Jake turned to her and smiled.

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Well, why not tell him first. Cassie mused._ He's going to find out anyway, and he _is_ the leader, after all._

"Jake?"

"Yes, Cassie?"

"I read kind of an unnerving headline in the paper this morning. It said that some family by the name of Carter had disappeared in the national forest while they were on a camping trip."

"Carter? As in, Ness and Cain Carter?" Jake asked.

"Yeah, I guess," she answered, not really sure what he was talking about.

Jake, realizing that Cassie had never paid any attention to school activities in general, and sports in particular, shook his head slightly.

"Sorry, Cassie. I forgot you don't follow school sports. Ness Carter is on the track team, he's one of the best. Cain's his twin brother. He's one of the best swimmers in the school."

"He's on the swim team?"

"Yeah, he's won a lot of trophies."

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So that's_ why Jake knows about them. _Cassie thought, remembering that Jake like to keep up on school sports.

The bus arrived just then, precluding any further discussion. They climbed aboard without a word. Once they had found their seats though, they resumed their discussion.

"Do you think that the… _they_ captured the Carters?" Cassie asked, just remembering that they were in a public place.

"I don't know, it's possible. I'll get in touch with Marco, you tell Rachel about what you found out. We'll meet up at the barn after school."

"Okay Jake, I'll see you after school," Cassie said, Jake nodded, with a small smile just for her.


	5. Real Life

The bus arrived at its inevitable destination, and everyone left without a look back.

"Welcome to the realm of lost souls," Cassie muttered under her breath, she was not very fond of school.

As soon as she entered the building, the bell for the first class rang. Not having time to go to her locker, Cassie put her backpack back on and jogged the rest of the way to class.

***

Darkon had been considering the young human female that Gunnar had brought to his command center. She was a fighter, and also had the necessary rage to become an unstoppable Teknoman. There was one rather persistent thorn in Darkon's side, though.

The young human male named Ness, the elder of the twins that had come into the forest, was still resisting. And Darkon was growing weary of it. It had been amusing at first, to see the child scream and struggle against the inevitable, but now Darkon was impatient to complete his transformation.

Cain, the younger of the two, had slipped into a sort of coma during the transformation process. Darkon didn't know what could have triggered that kind of reaction – since to his knowledge anyone deemed unfit to posses the powers of a Teknoman was killed outright – but these humans were an unknown species, despite their superficial similarity to his own.

***

Cassie had managed to get in touch with Rachel during lunch, and now she wanted the school day to end so she and the other Animorphs could do something about the this new situation. Or at least so they could find out more about it. Jake, passing Cassie on his way to another class, had discreetly informed her that he'd told Marco about what she and Jake had talked about.

Sitting in her geography class, Cassie tried to pay attention to what the teacher was saying, but she was already thinking about all the possible endings to this new mission. The Animorphs could rescue the Carters, get them somewhere safe and leave. Or the Carters could already be infested.

Somehow though, Cassie felt that that was not the case. It was as if someone was telling her that everything would be all right. The Ellimist maybe? No, this wasn't something the Ellimist would do.

He, or she or they, were not above using the Animorphs for their own mysterious ends. But they weren't really the type to give comfort, the Ellimist tended to speak more in open-ended riddles when they weren't giving instructions.

"Cassie," the unexpected voice startled Cassie out of her thoughts.

Looking around, Cassie saw that most of the other students were staring at her. Cassie noticed the voice of her teacher Mr. Sanderson almost as an afterthought.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Sanderson," Cassie said. "I kind of drifted off."

"I noticed that," he replied, smiling understandingly. "And I've told you this before, Cassie. Call me Dale."

Cassie smiled back, Dale Sanderson was one of the nicest teachers in the school, but Cassie had never really been interested in his subject. As Dale turned back to the blackboard, Cassie made an effort to pay attention this time.

***

After his last – and least favorite – class of the day had ended, Marco joined the usual rush of students out of the building. He caught sight of Jake and considered waving to his best friend, but Jake was facing forward and the rushing kids occupied his peripheral vision, Jake probably wouldn't notice him.

Once the four human Animorphs had all left the school grounds, Marco debated whether or not to try and hook up with any of them. But no, he was already halfway into the bus. Taking a last look back outside, Marco saw that Cassie was hurrying to get on the same bus that Marco was just climbing into.

He wondered for a minute why she wasn't sitting with Jake, then decided to ask her about that once they were all together at the barn. After all, he and Cassie had never moved in the same social circles. It would be bad security for them to be seen talking as if they were old friends, despite the fact that that was what they were.

Leaning his head against the window, Marco watched the scenery flash by outside the bus. He wasn't normally this morose, at least not in public. _Maybe the whole Animorph thing is getting to me,_ he thought. Hell, it had gotten to almost all of his friends by now, in varying ways, why not him?

Someone shook him, and Marco realized that this was his stop. Turning to thank whoever had woke him from his daydream, he saw Kerry grinning down at him.

"Planning more of your hilarious hijinks, eh Marc?"

Kerry Lewis, who most of the kids teased by calling 'Carrie', was one of Marco's friends from before the whole Animorph busyness had started.

"Yeah," Marco said, forcing a smirk and hoping it looked genuine. "That's just what I'm doing."

Kerry grinned back, seeming to take Marco's words at face value. Marco hauled himself out of the seat he had been slumped in and followed Kerry out of the bus. His house wasn't too far from the bus stop, but Kerry's was a long ways away.

Marco waved goodbye to him and turned the corner that would lead him home.


	6. Meeting the others

Ulysses Carter staggered on through the forest. The voice that had guided him in rescuing three of his five children from the Radam had fallen silent now. But given how weak it had been once it had halfway deactivated the three Teknopods, Ulysses wasn't really surprised.

He still carried the body of Devon Connor, one of the others who had been rejected by the Radam's Teknoprocess. Most of the fluid that had coated his body had evaporated by now, but nothing had happened to Devon short of getting a bit heavier. Suspecting that if he took one more step he would collapse in the dirt, Ulysses stopped. Leaning against a tree for support, he checked Devon's body.

He'd wiped off the blood that had dripped from Devon's eyes and mouth, but hadn't bothered with the Teknopod fluid. He now realized that he probably should have at least tried to wipe some of it off.

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Amazing, it must possess some kind of enzyme that speeds up decomposition. Ulysses thought, his passion for biochemistry taking hold despite the desperate situation he was in. He was thankful that all of the fluid on his body was gone by now.

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Must be because I'm still alive. Ulysses mused. The fluid must have had some heat-reactive properties, so much that even the relatively mild heat produced by the human body was capable of destroying it. _I wonder what a fire would do to those plants?_

It would probably destroy all of the Teknoplants, but with the unfortunate side effect of killing anyone inside them.

***

The Animorphs were all gathered together now, all eyes were on Cassie as she explained what she had found. And what she had felt.

"Does anyone find this kinda familiar?" Marco asked, thinking of the when they had rescued Ax from the bottom of the ocean.

"Yeah, but this time only Cassie felt it. Unless…" Rachel trailed off, turning to look at Tobias, perched on one of the rafters, keeping lookout for anyone who might be heading for the barn.

No, he said, turning his fierce hawk eyes to the group. I didn't feel anything.

"Well, we know from Tobias' surveillance that Ness Carter picked up the blue box just before he and his family disappeared in the forest. Maybe _it's_ calling out to us somehow," Marco suggested sarcastically.

That is not possible, Ax said, missing the true intent of Marco's statement. The Escafil device is an inanimate object.

Marco rolled his eyes, wondering if he should tell Ax that he had been being sarcastic.

"Could there be another Andalite on Earth?" Cassie wondered aloud.

Before any of them could answer, they all felt it. It was like a bolt of electricity straight through their minds. Jake, Rachel, Cassie and Marco all shot to their feet. Tobias and Ax, who had already been standing, both drew closer to their friends.

"We don't have much time," Rachel said.

"Wolf morphs, everyone," Jake advised, feeling the same sense of urgency that the rest of the Animorphs had.

The other Animorphs nodded, quickly shedding their outer clothing and beginning their own morphs. Rachel had started morphing before Jake had finished speaking, and she was halfway finished when the others were only starting. Cassie, with her ability to subconsciously control her morphs, soon caught up with her best friend.

Six gray wolves soon stood amid several scattered heaps of clothes. Jake berated himself for not having the Animorphs gather their outer clothing before they had started morphing. It was too late to do anything about that, however, and so Jake and the others simply grabbed their clothes in their teeth and stuffed them into the nearest convenient hiding place.


	7. The voice in the dark

The six of them were soon racing out the front entrance of the barn, toward something that none of them would have expected. It became immediately apparent that whatever had urged them to hurry up when they were in the barn wasn't done with them yet.

They somehow knew exactly what route to take, making hairpin turns with hardly any drop in their speed. Soon, they stood in a clearing. The Animorphs, not sure at all of what they were looking for, began to prowl around aimlessly.

  
It didn't take them that long to notice signs of the struggle that had taken place less than six weeks ago. Other leaves had settled over the ground since that time, but there was a bad feeling over the entire area. Almost exactly like the one the Animorphs got whenever they faced off with Visser Three.

Cassie was the first to come across more tangible evidence that something had happened. The broken walking stick lying buried halfway in the leaves at her paws was decorated with a pair of feathers at the top, and someone had also painted six green stripes just below the handgrip.

***

Marco, however, came across something far more interesting. It was a tree with most of the bark on the upper third of the trunk gone. Some new bark was growing in, of course, but it was obvious that something way out of the ordinary had happened here. What that thing was, however, wasn't so readily apparent.

They could all feel that something was here though, just waiting beneath the surface. Jake began to demorph, not quite sure why, just a feeling that if he didn't none of them would ever find out what was going on. As soon as he was fully human, the ground caved in underneath him.

Not having time for anything but a surprised yelp before the hole closed, Jake found himself slammed rather abruptly into the ground. But the ground was softer than he had expected, in fact it was kind of squishy. That was all he noticed before he heard a fast slithering sound.

Like a hyperactive pair of snakes were coming after him, but the whole place was pitch-black and so Jake had to rely on his sense of hearing to gauge where the things were. Suddenly, Jake felt something wrap around his left ankle.

It started to pull at him, then stopped suddenly as if it had changed its mind. Just then Jake heard a voice inside his head, but it wasn't the everywhere-at-once voice of the Ellimist and it wasn't thought-speak either. It was louder, closer, and somehow more intimate than normal thought-speak.

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I will not be able to aid you for long, child. I… need your help.

Jake blinked as his eyes abruptly became adjusted to the pitch-blackness. He saw that it was a vine that had wrapped around his ankle, and he also noticed that the entire floor was made of the same kind of vines. Jake stood up slowly, opening his mouth to ask what was going on.

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Do not speak! I will be able to hear you if you direct your thoughts at me. Do you see the third pod on your right?

Pod? What was this guy talking about? _I don't know what you're trying to tell me,_ Jake thought, feeling a little confused.

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Look around.

Jake looked around and saw that he was indeed surrounded by pods. The pods were glowing with a soft red light, not enough for him to see by normally, but somehow he could see everything clearly. _What did you do?_

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I simply speeded the process by which your eyes would adjust to this level of light. But my time is limited, so I ask you again, do you see the third pod on your right?

Yes, I see it.

Jake walked over to the row of pods on his right, surprised to discover that the pods held some kind of humanlike, armored figures. Stepping closer, he saw that each of them was in the same position: arms wrapped around their calves, legs curled up against their chests, heads almost touching their knees. Every now and then, a small column of bubbles would spiral upward from somewhere on the figure.

As if they were breathing. There was also a deep, reverberating thumping echoing around him. _Synchronized heartbeats, _Jake thought. _Creepy._


	8. Narrow Escape

The voice that had been guiding him didn't seem to think that was in need of any kind of reply, or that's what Jake took his silence to mean. Walking past the first two pods on his right, he found that the third was almost identical to the others. The only difference that Jake could see was that this pod was only glowing about half as brightly as the others.

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It's as if it's been shut down or something, Jake thought.

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That is exactly what has happened.

Jake blinked. _You turned this thing off?_

Partially deactivated, yes. It would have been far too obvious if it had deactivated completely, the voice was starting to sound a bit strained now, as if whoever was talking was starting to get tired.

What do you want me to do? Jake thought back, still staring at the armored figure in the pod.

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I need you to morph, Jake. To destroy the pod before anyone can discover that it is inactive.

How do you know my name? Jake asked, starting his tiger morph before he had finished his thought.

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I… do not have time to tell that story… but you will know… all that you desire to… once I have had time to regain my strength. 

It sounded now like the person was shouting from a long distance, or that the speaker was on the verge of collapse. Jake's morph was half completed by now, and the entire underground base was getting brighter and brighter as his tiger vision asserted itself. Once he was fully morphed, Jake extended his claws and ripped open the glowing pod.

The pod burst, its contents gushing out all over the vine-covered floor. The figure was mostly white, but the joints were all pitch black, and the front of the chest was red. The armor was still covered in the goo that had been inside the pod, but it seemed to be evaporating quickly.

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Now, how do I get you out of here?

That was when the answer, in the form of an unmorphed Marco, rather abruptly fell into his proverbial lap. He had fallen almost on top of the white armored guy, in fact. Jake could see Marco opening his mouth to either ask where he was or to call out to Jake, neither of them found out what Marco would have said, though.

Jake clamped his paw over Marco's mouth before he could make a sound, remembering the warning he had been given.

Don't say anything Marco, just start morphing. I need your gorilla morph for this.

Marco was confused, but figured that he wouldn't get anything from Jake unless he was morphed. And then there was the fact that this whole place had a deeply creepy feeling all about it, hell he'd feel _safer_ as a gorilla. So he started to morph, feeling the familiar reassurance as his body gained more muscle than he would have gotten from even a lifetime of exercise.

Once his morph was complete he turned to Jake, wanting to know what had caused the sudden, sharp pain in his thigh.

Jake, what _exactly _did I just land on?

I'll tell you once we get him out of here.

_Him_?

Jake was about to tell Marco what he'd landed on, when he saw two more of those vine/tentacle things slithering toward the spot where Marco still stood. But then they seemed to change their mind, rearing up like a pair of startled snakes, and then slinking off to somewhere else.

Jake, what was that weird sound?

We have to get out of here, Jake said, getting the feeling that more of those vine things would be coming for them if they stayed.

Well, whatever you say Big Jake, Marco said, also eager to get out of this dark, utterly creepy place.

Marco's eyes had just begun adjusting to the blackness, but at the moment all that he could make out were the blurred edges of objects. He also got the impression of a vast expanse. Marco knuckle-walked over to where he could just perceive a four-legged form standing by something that seemed to glow faintly in the darkness.

That was when his hand encountered something other then the usual soft squishiness of the floor. It was hard, it was cold, and it was… metallic? Marco sat back on his haunches, touching the thing that he had almost stepped on. As he probed it with his sensitive fingers, Marco found that it was shaped like a human calf and foot.

Jake saw that Marco had found the white armored guy.

C'mon Marco, we need to get him out of here.

This is who you were talking about?

__

There…isn't time!

That caused both of them to jerk in surprise, but Marco swept up the armored creature in his arms and both of them made for the nearest exit.

Are_ there any exits in this place? _Jake wondered.  


__

There…will be…

As they raced past the rows of pods on both sides of them, Jake decided not to question the reappearance of the voice that had been guiding him. It sounded a little bit stronger than when it had cut out earlier, but still weak and strained.

Once they had reached the edge of the pit, they found that there was indeed an exit. There were vines dangling from the edges of the hole, moving slightly back and forth. Vines that, Jake now saw, were the only thing that kept the other Animorphs – and anyone else who had the bad luck to stumble on this part of the forest – from falling right on top of all those pods.

__

…Climb… quickly… can't hold forever…

Without a look back, Jake raced up the barely moving vines, all the while worried that they would somehow regain their unnatural mobility and drag him back down into that dark pit. Marco, having less experience with the vines, was just glad to be out of there. With the metal guy slung over his right shoulder, he made quick progress up the vines.

The other Animorphs, still in their wolf morphs, all came racing up to them.

We saw you fall, Prince Jake, Ax said, the first of the Animorphs to speak.

What happened down there? Cassie asked, sounding very worried.

Jake didn't blame her, since they had been gone for more than a few minutes. And the last anyone had seen was the two of them falling through what appeared to be solid ground. But, Jake also had another concern.

Ax, how long have the others been in morph? Jake asked, knowing that if they were to stay morphed for more then two hours, they would all be trapped as whatever they currently were.

We have been in morph for one of your hours and eighteen minutes, Prince Jake. But you and Marco have only been morphed for twenty-one of your minutes.

Ax, if I've told you once, I've told you a million times, Marco said, in the tone of one who would never tire of reciting a certain piece of information. They're not just our minutes, they're everyone's minutes.

Ax ignored him, and Marco took the opportunity to dump the armored guy off his back.

Come on, guys, Jake said, seeing the other Animorphs turn to look at the creature Marco had just dropped. We need to get back to the barn.


	9. Slade

Marco reluctantly picked the guy back up, having dropped him because his armor was mostly dead weight. And some of the sharper parts of said armor were digging into his skin and making him uncomfortable. Marco was just glad that the guy's helmet wasn't sticking into him somewhere, those horns looked like they'd _hurt_.

Jake and the others were quick about getting back to the barn, though Marco lagged a bit behind, owing to the amount of dead weight he was lugging. They made it back to the barn with five minutes left for Ax, Cassie, Tobias and Rachel to demorph. Marco dropped the armored guy on the floor before he started his own demorph, since even as a gorilla he was struggling to hold onto the guy. He was really, really heavy.

Marco started demorphing once the weight was off his back, as he demorphed, Marco looked around at the other Animorphs. Cassie was just finishing her demorph, while Tobias and Rachel were still more wolf than human, or in Tobias' case, more wolf than hawk. Jake still had lingering traces of his tiger morph, and Ax still had wolf ears and a shaggy gray tail.

Finally, all of the Animorphs were finished demorphing. Four humans, a Red-tailed hawk, and an Andalite stood in a loose semicircle around the prone armored figure. It looked like he was starting to wake up, since he was shifting on the floor like some of them did when they were just starting to wake up. His black armored hand seemed to be grasping weakly at empty air.

Then, after they had just seen what conceivably might have been a pair of bright green eyes flashing at them, the entire figure started glowing green. The glow spread and intensified until it shone like a newborn star, but at the same time the outlines of the armored figure were still visible, shining a bright white. Those outlines now seemed to, shrink somehow, becoming smaller and less robust.

Then the green light started to fade away, leaving only the small figure in the center. As the light dimmed slowly to nothing, the watching Animorphs began to glimpse the outline of the figure. It was human, or at least that's what it was starting to look like. As the glow retreated, they began to pick out more subtle details. Long slender but muscular legs, powerful but not overly muscled arms, and a head of longish hair of some yet unidentifiable color.

The light faded further, and the Animorphs realized that whoever this was, they didn't have a stitch of clothing on. It reminded Jake of the time that he had first morphed into his dog Homer, he'd ended up in the same situation.

"All right everyone, I think we'd better give our new friend some privacy," Jake said, turning away from the inert figure.

The Animorphs now stood facing outward, staring at the walls or floor of the barn. Jake, who had been standing by the guy's head, turned to get a quick look at the figure behind him, just so he could tell whether it was a boy or a girl. If it was a girl, Jake would have to ask Cassie and Rachel to get her dressed up.

There were just some things a boy - even one who was the leader of a group of guerrilla rebels - wouldn't do. But, when he glanced backward, he didn't see any of the usual… well, stuff that girls had. Jake turned back to get a closer look, making sure to keep his eyes above the neck.

The face was angular and neatly framed by glossy, spiky black hair. Glancing a bit below the collarbone, Jake saw that it was a boy lying on the floor. Jake turned around entirely, and then saw that calling this guy a "boy" was a bit of a mistake. He looked older than any of them.

Jake stepped closer to him, thinking he recognized something about his face. Kneeling down by his head, Jake took another look.

"Ness Carter?" Jake gasped, having suddenly realized where those angular features were familiar from. Jake had seen Ness around school enough to know him when he saw him, sometimes the other guy would just be walking to another class, other times he would be talking to his brother Cain.

When Ness' eyes started to flutter open, Jake was about ready to ask Cassie if she had any extra clothes that would fit on a guy his size. That was when he caught sight of Ness' eyes. Jake had seen pictures of him in the trophy hall of the school, since he had won a few medals in the track team.

The eyes in that picture had been a cool jade, and Ness had been smiling at the camera. The eyes now staring Jake in the face were a bright emerald green. The eyes themselves were intense, despite the fact that his gaze was still unfocused. Ness blinked, then started trying to push himself into a sitting position with his hands.

Jake saw that he was struggling with this, and also that he looked more than a little haggard. As if he had recently been through the wringer. Jake took a few steps closer.

"Hey Ness, maybe you shouldn't try to get up just now. You look like you've had a rough time," Jake said worriedly.

That got Ness' attention. His head snapped around, his eyes fixing on Jake. He looked confused, but more than that he looked frightened. Why in the world would Ness be acting scared when Jake had only mentioned his name? Ness was shaking his head, as if he was trying to clear it.

"Not Ness… name's… Slade," he managed to mutter, before his arms gave out under him and he collapsed again. He lost consciousness soon after he got the last word out.

"Slade?" Jake wondered aloud. That wasn't what he'd been expecting. Truthfully, Jake hadn't been sure what to expect, but it hadn't been anything like what he had just seen.

Jake snapped out of his daze, seeing Ness - _Or should I call him Slade? _Jake wondered - lying unconscious on the hay-strewn floor.

"Cassie, do you have any spare blankets?" Jake asked, hoping that she did, since it wasn't all that warm in the barn.

Cassie nodded, and quickly went off to get one of the old blankets that her dad used to keep the horses warm in the winter. Jake, meanwhile, turned back to the unconscious teen on the floor.

"Can we turn around yet?" Rachel asked, getting a bit bored with staring at the walls of the barn.

"No, not yet, Rachel," Jake answered absently, wondering what to do with Ness. And why he had called himself Slade.


	10. Gunnar’s mission

Back at the Radam base, the slumbering form of Tekno-Warlord Darkon was awakened suddenly.

Something seemed a bit... off with the teknopods. Darkon's eyes narrowed as he sought the source of the anomaly. There. One of the pods had broken open already. Normally, Darkon would not have concerned himself with something like that, since he knew that anyone who was prematurely released from their teknopod would have a lifespan measured in days.

But something, some shadow of his suppressed othersense, warned him not to dismiss this event out of hand. So Darkon searched further, mentally prodding each of the teknopods. Once he came to the one that had opened, Darkon realized that it had not opened on its own after all.

The failsafe, the one that would have eventually caused the death of the prematurely released Teknoman, had not been activated. And there was something else as well. Some trace of animal hair, which was decidedly odd, since this planet only had one sentient race, and the protective vines were sensitive enough to tell the difference between the tread of a human and that of the other wildlife in this forest.

__

Gunnar, wake up! Darkon demanded.

Gunnar's pod split open, dumping the blonde Teknoman onto the floor of the base. Blinking himself awake, Gunnar started trying to squeegee the remaining slime out of his hair. He stood up after he'd gotten most of the sticky fluid out. Reaching over into a sort of small closet formed by a bunch of tentacles, Gunnar started to dress up.

Pulling on the last of his clothes, which incidentally was a pale yellow tee shirt with the words "Blondes have more fun, so there!" in white letters on the front, Gunnar tucked the hem into his jeans and turned back to his pod. It was already starting to regenerate.

Since Gunnar had never seen Darkon in person, he just tended to stare at any place his eyes would rest when they talked.

__

What happened? Why'd you wake me up?

There is someone missing from their teknopod. I want you to find out who it is and retrieve them.

Sure thing.

Gunnar turned away from his teknopod, walking out into the main area of the base. Looking around at the other pods, Gunnar noticed the one that had been opened almost immediately. It was hanging in shreds, almost ready to topple from its thick stem. There was… something about this particular teknopod. Gunnar bit the inside of his cheek, trying to recall why this one suddenly seemed so important.

__

Let's see, the one between Cain and Conrad, that was… Gunnar blinked, realizing just who had been taken from the base. _Well I'll be damned,_ Gunnar thought, beginning to smile. Someone had taken Ness.

Although the Radam parasite that was growing somewhere inside his body ensured his loyalty to Darkon's cause, its control was not as strong as it would have been if Gunnar weren't Darkon's guide, since guides by their very nature held no close ties to the target planet. Now Gunnar felt it prodding him, telling him to go find what had been taken from them.

__

Um, I found out who's missing, Darkon.

Good. Who is it?

It's Ness Carter, sir, Gunnar had referred to Darkon as 'sir' rather than 'Master' or 'Lord', since the Radam were more of a military unit than a monarchy. At least in his opinion.

__

Well, now that we know who it is, Darkon said, sounding particularly pissed off._ Why don't you go and retrieve our little wayward warrior?_

Gunnar scratched his head, remembering the knowledge that had been imprinted in his mind during the transformation process. _Won't he die after a few days?_ Gunnar asked, feeling his heart skip slightly at the thought of one of his good friends suffering like that._ Better dead then like this, I guess._

__

Normally, yes, Darkon said coldly. _But someone or something has deactivated the failsafe. I need you to go and find the little half-human before he is discovered. By anyone._

Right.

Gunnar turned away from his newly regenerated teknopod, walking between the unevenly spaced rows of occupied and unoccupied pods. The outer section of the base was smooth, but the vines quickly formed a short flight of stairs. Just as Gunnar would have bumped his head on the vines that formed the base's ceiling, they abruptly shifted aside.

Gunnar took his first breath of fresh air, stepping out of the hole in the forest floor and into the forest itself. He could hear a shifty sort of slithering sound as the hole closed up again. Gunnar didn't look back, instead wondering where Ness would have gone when the teknopod released him.

__

Well, if he was only halfway transformed when he got out, them maybe he still remembers something about his life. Since Gunnar knew that before a normal person was implanted with a Radam parasite they had their memory wiped, it was reasonable to assume that this process had been only half complete when Ness had been released.

__

So, if he only had a partial mind wipe, that means he might still be able to remember his past. Sure, it'll just be bits and pieces, but it'll still be there. Gunnar knew that the most likely place Ness would go if he were confused and alone, which he would undoubtedly be after having come out of a teknopod, would be back home. After all, the Carter family cabin held a lot of good memories for all of its inhabitants, permanent and temporary.

__

Okay, so I'll go there, see if I can find him. As much as Gunnar hated to do it, he knew what would happen if he didn't. The last time he had defied Darkon's orders had been five weeks ago, when another family had gone camping in this forest. Their two kids, a young boy who looked about six and his older sister who was probably ten, had been in a different area of the forest than Amy and her family.

Darkon had sent him out on a scouting mission, and when the Warlord had found out that there were humans wandering around in the forest he was determined to have them join his forces. Gunnar had been ordered to leave the parents, since they were most likely too old to survive the transformation. Gunnar had refused, thinking that it was bad enough that his friends and only remaining family member would have to spend the rest of eternity as slave warriors to the Radam Empire.

That was when the pain had started. Pain like someone with a real sadistic streak was shoving flaming daggers right into his brain. Gunnar had also involuntarily stopped breathing for about five minutes. When the pain had finally stopped and Gunnar had been able to breath again, Darkon had warned him that if he were ever to do anything like that again, he could be assured that Darkon would not be so merciful a second time.

Even now after five weeks, the memory of that pain and the terror of not being able to draw air into his lungs no matter ho hard he tried, was enough to convince Gunnar to shut up and obey orders. Walking on, Gunnar slowly and steadily made his way to the edge of the forest, where the Carter cabin was located. It took him about seven hours to get there, since he took a more direct route than the long hike that he had gone on when he first left.

He was counting on the fact that no one would be looking up at this time of the day, and even if they were, they probably wouldn't notice the streak of red light cutting through the sky, since it was moving so fast and making sure to stay only a bit above the treetops. Finally reaching his destination, Gunnar landed and quickly detransformed.

Gunnar found being in his armor for too long both draining and a little bit frightening. Draining because it took a great deal out of him to fly that fast for that long, and frightening because the armor made him feel invulnerable and so utterly powerful. He'd often heard it said that absolute power corrupted absolutely. Was that what had happened to Darkon?

Gunnar shook his head, dispelling those thoughts, now was not the time. Walking up to the door of the cabin, Gunnar squatted down to retrieve the spare key from underneath the welcome mat. Before he went inside though, Gunnar looked down to read the message on the mat like he'd done so many times before. It said "Welcome to our Home." but below the picture of a typical suburban dwelling, someone with a decidedly twisted sense of humor - probably Cain - had scrawled the words "now go away." in permanent marker.


	11. Hunting Ground

Gunnar had always had a good laugh whenever he'd seen that little message, but now he only smiled a bit sadly before going inside. The inside of the Carter cabin was not what anyone would expect. It was carpeted, and furnished like something you would think of when walking into a house in the city.

There was a large stereo on a table by the stairs, and the walls were painted a light cream color to match the carpet. The thing Gunnar first went to, though, was the table that held the photographs. He ran his left hand over the table as he passed, stopping to look at one of the larger pictures. It was a group shot, like the rest of them, but this one held a special attraction for him.

It was the five Carter kids; Cain and Ness, side by side as always, Conrad in the back, and Shara and Raven in the front. But, what made this photo so special to Gunnar was the fact that the "extended family" was also included. His older sister Katherine was sitting next to Conrad, her arm around his shoulders and her head leaned against his. Fritz himself was sitting next to Cain, grinning like an idiot. Devon sat next to Raven, smiling at Ulysses, who was taking the picture.

Gunnar turned away from the happy picture, not wanting to be reminded anymore of the life he had been forced to leave behind. He went to the stairs, taking a last look at the walls covered with photos of the Carter family. Gunnar took the stairs slowly, in no real hurry to complete this mission. When he did reach the top, Gunnar opened the foremost door on the right first.

This had been Conrad's room, since he was the oldest. Conrad was the only one besides Ulysses who had his own room, although he'd never objected to Shara coming and asking to sleep in his bed whenever she had a bad dream. The Carters, with the exception of Raven, were people people. They liked to have guests over.

Walking through the empty room, Gunnar was struck with a profound feeling of wrongness. Conrad's room had always been a kind of sanctuary for Fritz, since Conrad wasn't nearly as boisterous as the twins. Of course, Conrad had just as much personality as any of them.

As Gunnar walked on, he looked at the pictures Conrad kept on his desk. Family photos, and a picture of Katherine decorated the top shelf of his desk. On the desk itself was a brass model of Big Ben that Conrad had bought for himself during the time that he and his family had been in England.

Fritz had only gotten secondhand accounts of that trip, but from what he had heard, Conrad had been the one who was most excited about that trip. Looking around at the empty room one last time, Gunnar sighed softly and walked out, making sure to close the door behind him.

The next room he came to was the one Ness and Cain shared. Opening that door, Gunnar stepped inside. He wasn't really hoping he would find Ness wandering around in his old room, but Darkon _had_ given him an order to search for him. Gunnar was just using the time to do a little heavy-duty reminiscing.

He didn't spend nearly as much time in their room as in Conrad's, but only because the silence was starting to make him crazy. He decided to skip Shara and Raven's room, since he was starting to feel trapped in the house. The last room was on the opposite wall from the others, and belonged to Ulysses.

Fritz had been fond of the Carter family patriarch, and had always imagined his own father to be a lot like him. He'd never get to know, of course, since his father had died of cancer when Fritz was only two. The left corner of Gunnar's mouth lifted slightly as he thought of what an ironic twist that was. Marie Carter, who had been Ulysses' beloved wife and the mother of his five children, had died giving birth to Raven.

Life was just kind of funny sometimes.


	12. Ulysses Carter

Gunnar stowed those thoughts away for later, softly opening the door to Ulysses' room. The entire house was cloaked in a kind of reverent silence, and for some reason, Gunnar didn't want to disturb it.

Peeking inside, Gunnar was shocked to discover that someone was actually sleeping in the room's only bed. Walking closer, Gunnar froze when the sleeper rolled over so that he was facing Gunnar. Gunnar blinked twice, seeing the face of someone he thought he'd never see again. _Ulysses Carter? I - I thought he was dead._

As Ulysses' started to open his eyes, Gunnar nearly panicked, instantly turning himself invisible. Ulysses sat up, and Gunnar started to slowly back up. He knew that he wouldn't be able to get back through the door, since it would be sure to give him away by moving, if only slightly, when he ducked back through it.

Ulysses blinked, staring around at the walls of his room. Someone was in there with him. He didn't know how he knew, but he knew that there was another person standing somewhere in his room. He could sense it.

Gunnar stood against the wall, waiting for Ulysses to go lay down and go back to sleep. Instead of doing that, though, Ulysses flipped the covers off his legs and stood up. Gunnar wondered if he was thirsty or something. But when Ulysses started to prowl around the room like he was looking for something, Gunnar knew he was in trouble.

After he had checked the other three corners of the room, Ulysses came to the corner on the right-hand side of the door. This was it, whoever was in his room was standing _right here_. By this time, Gunnar was starting to wonder if he should just forget about subtlety and get out while he could.

"I know there's someone here, so why don't you just come out where I can see you?"

Gunnar lowered his head; Ulysses couldn't know how much he wanted to do that. But he had his orders, and revealing himself to Ulysses would probably preclude following them. But, since Darkon had never read his mind, maybe he wouldn't know.

Gunnar slowly faded back into visibility, keeping his eyes on his feet. He didn't want to look Ulysses in the eye, especially since his eyes were so obviously not human anymore.

"Fritz?"

"No," Gunnar said, hoping that his blonde bangs still shaded his red eyes.

Ulysses put his hand under Fritz's chin, forcing the blonde boy to look him in the eyes. Gunnar was just about to close his eyes, when he saw the look on the older man's face. Ulysses' expression wasn't one of shock or horror, like Gunnar had expected. It was actually one of pity.

Gunnar turned away, forcefully yanking his chin out of Ulysses' hand. Pity was the one thing he hadn't expected, and it was also the one emotion that neither Gunnar or Fritz could handle. He'd had more than his share of pity when his father had died. Gunnar hated pity, it made him feel helpless.

Ulysses put his arm around Fritz's waist, steering him toward the king-sized mattress that Ulysses had been sleeping in until just recently. Ulysses was determined to get Fritz Wallace, or whoever he was now, to tell him what was wrong. _Aside from the obvious,_ Ulysses thought with a trace of bitterness.

Shaking his head to clear those thoughts, Ulysses sat down on the bed. Gunnar, his eyes at less than half-mast, felt something bump against his knees. Seeing that it was a bed, Gunnar let himself fall, burying himself face-first in the sheets. Someone, Gunnar knew it had to be Ulysses, was softly stroking his back just between his shoulder blades.

It felt… comforting.

"Fritz, what's wrong?"

__

I'm not Fritz. Didn't I make that obvious?

"All right then, what should I call you?"

__

Gunnar. Teknoman Gunnar. Whatever strikes your fancy, I guess.

"Teknoman?"

__

Yeah, that's what I am now. You had a run-in with the Radam, same as the rest of us. You should know what a Teknoman is.

Ulysses sighed. He did, in fact, know what a Teknoman was. He had gone through the same 'training' as Fritz and the others had. Teknomen were soldiers, slave warriors for Radam's cause. But, he also knew that Teknomen didn't remember what they had been before becoming Radam slaves.

"I know what a Teknoman is, Fri-Gunnar. But what I want to know is, how do you know who I am? Aren't Teknomen supposed to forget all about what they were?"

__

Apparently, our planet is completely new to the Radam Empire. So Darkon needs someone to show him around. You know, take him out to dinner, maybe catch a movie, tell him what the weakest targets are so he can attack them first. That kind of thing.

"So he chose you?"

__

Yeah. I get to be the one who betrays my entire planet. Isn't that a happy thought?

Ulysses knew that Fritz, or Gunnar as he insisted on being called now, tended to make jokes, especially when he was dangerously close to falling apart. Gunnar must have been very close to collapsing, if he was being this sarcastic.

"I'm sorry," Ulysses said, not sure what else he _could_ say.

__

Yeah, Gunnar thought back, sounding drained.

"So what happened? Why did Darkon send you here?"

__

Ness left.

"Left?" Ulysses asked, incredulous.

__

Well, to put it correctly, he was taken. Or at least that's what I think.

"Why do you think that?"

__

Just… a feeling I have.

Gunnar rolled over on his side, tired of trying to breathe through the sheets covering his face. Resting his head on his right arm, Gunnar took a deep breath of fresh air and let it out slowly. Ulysses had moved his hand to Gunnar's shoulder when the boy had turned, and was now just resting his hand there.

"Why did you come here?" Ulysses asked.

"Really? I'm not exactly sure anymore."

Ulysses didn't know what to say to that.

"I should really be going now," Gunnar said, rolling off the bed.

"Why?"

Gunnar shrugged, looking away from Ulysses. "I have to report back to Darkon, tell him I haven't found anything."

"Why don't you just stay here, with me?"

"Because I can't. Darkon would know where I was. And believe me, getting him angry is like jumping in front of an onrushing semi, only a lot more painful."

Ulysses had nothing to say to that, and Gunnar started to walk away.

__

Look, Gunnar started, not turning around or stopping. _I'll come back and talk to you again, if I can. But I'm not sure when that's going to be, or for how long. Darkon keeps a pretty close watch on me._

Gunnar left, and Ulysses shook his head. None of this should have happened.


	13. A call from Beyond

Far away from where Ulysses Carter sat contemplating the unfairness of the cosmos, Jake, still in his Peregrine falcon morph, was just getting home. This had been one of the more unusual days of his life, and now all he wanted to do was take a nice long nap. The whole ordeal had left him more drained than even the Animorphs' first attack on the Yeerk Pool complex.

Jake wasn't really sure why, but maybe it had something to do with all the morphing he'd done. Morphing was a tiring process, one that required extreme concentration, and Jake had done five morphs over a relatively short space of time. Yeah, that was it, it was just from all the morphing he'd done recently.

Jake dove through his bedroom window, flaring just in time to cancel his momentum so he wouldn't splatter his guts all over the far wall. Listening with the falcon's superior hearing, Jake made sure that no one was coming. Once he had ascertained that fact, Jake started demorphing.

His hollow bird bones solidified, becoming heavier and denser. At the same time, his feathers were melting like heated wax, running together and confusing their elegant patterns. He shot up from the floor like a time-lapse movie of a plant growing, shedding feathers and growing human skin in their wake. His beak was sucked back into his mouth with a soft grinding sound, and lips grew in over his newly reformed teeth.

At last the transformation was complete, and Jake walked unsteadily over to his bed. Pulling the covers off, Jake slipped under them. Throwing them back over his body, Jake closed his eyes.

And, just like that, he was somewhere else…

__

*** ***

The entire place was in shades of blue, that was the first thing Jake noticed about it. As he started walking, each footstep echoed back to him as if it had been amplified, that was the second thing Jake noticed about it.

The echoing wasn't really annoying, just strange. Jake had dealt with strange before, so he was sure he could handle it again. When Jake looked up, he saw that he was in some kind of hallway that had an arched ceiling.

Looking ahead, Jake saw the end of the hallway. He was almost there; just a few more steps and he'd be out of the hallway. Jake wondered for a few seconds why he was so eager to get to the end of the hallway, but something, something that for some reason reminded Jake of the mysterious voice that had guided him to the underground place where he'd found Slade, urged him onward.

Now that Jake had reached the end of the hallway, he could see what was beyond it. It was… a starfield? Jake looked at the waist-high railing that bordered the platform where he now stood. It seemed to be the only thing that kept anyone from falling into that endless starry abyss.

Jake heard someone sigh, and his head snapped around to fix on the lone figure at the middle of the railing. He, for some reason Jake felt that a male designation was appropriate, turned his head to look at Jake over his left shoulder. He had no mouth, the same as Elfangor, but Jake suspected that he was more different than alike to the Andalite Prince.

He was a deeper shade of blue than the surrounding area, and Jake somehow knew that this was his real coloring and not just a trick of the lighting. Jake saw his eye, the same shape and quality as Slade's had been in his armor, flash bright sky-blue for a moment before quickly fading.

"Who are you?" Jake asked, his voice sounding muffled instead of amplified by the echoes.

This is a dream.

"Who are_ you?" Jake asked again, knowing that he might get the same answer._

The blue figure turned, and Jake now saw that he was wearing some kind of form-fitting body armor. There was also a cascade of what looked exactly like blue hair that sprouted from somewhere behind the helmet and flowed gracefully over his shoulders. Bordering the 'hair' on both sides was a five-inch long, rounded bladelike horn.

I am called Tekkaman Starfire,_ he answered._


	14. The voice of the dead

__

"It was you. You were the one who directed us to that underground place. Why?"

The Radam Empire is a danger to your planet. I merely wanted you to have a chance against them.

"Radam Empire?"

Yes. They are ancient creatures. Nearly as old as we Tekkamen, but they are evil. And far more powerful than the Yeerks which you face now.

Starfire turned back to the wide expanse of stars behind him, reaching out his right hand, he seemed to tap on the sky. The entire sky in front of him rippled like a liquid, changing from a serene view to one that was decidedly less so. There were hundreds of them; armored figures who at first glance looked almost like Starfire.

But there was something different about them. Something, Jake knew, that was evil.

"These are Radam," Jake said.

Yes.

The scene shifted again, and Jake now saw that Tekkaman Starfire was fighting what almost looked like another of his kind. But this one was armored in black, and did not possess the 'hair' that Starfire himself had. And, Jake couldn't understand why, but the black armored figure had an evil aura that clung to him like a shadow.

"Is that a Radam?"

Yes. It is one of their soldiers. They call themselves Teknomen, in mockery of us.

Jake watched as Tekkaman Starfire and the as-yet-unnamed black Teknoman fought. No quarter was given and none received as the two alien warriors battled. Jake saw their weapons, a curved longsword for Tekkaman Starfire and a double-edged lance for the black Teknoman, as flashes of blue and silver as they repeatedly slammed them against the other's.

The two opponents backflipped away from the other, flaring their rockets and charging back in to attack again. They seemed to be pretty evenly matched, but the Teknoman seemed to have a grudge against his blue opponent. Jake thought it was because he was a Radam, but this fight seemed… personal somehow.

As Jake watched, he began to get a sense of just how powerful the Radam were.

"You've fought them before," Jake affirmed. "Will you be able to help us?"

No, I will not.

"Why?"

Because I, my child, am dead.

What?!_ Jake screamed silently. He had been under the impression that Tekkaman Starfire was out in the cosmos somewhere, and that he had somehow sensed that the Radam had come to Earth._

"How did you end up here, if you died?"

My spirit is bound to this planet, because this is place is where I lost my life.

Starfire swept his right hand across the sky again, and the ripples spread out from the center, the sky shifting fluidlike to become another scene. Tekkaman Starfire and the black Teknoman were fighting again, but this time, the Teknoman seemed to be more confidant.

As Jake watched, the Radam's eyes flashed bright red, and then he… disappeared? Even Starfire seemed confused by this action, whipping his head around as if trying to pinpoint the now invisible Teknoman. Seconds later, the Teknoman reappeared. But it was too late for Starfire to fight back, as the Teknoman had already rammed his double-edged lance into Starfire's stomach.

The long blade stuck out through Starfire's back, and the Teknoman kicked Starfire's still-living body off the end of his lance. Throwing him into the atmosphere of the planet that had provided a backdrop to their latest confrontation.

"That's Earth," Jake said, having been too absorbed in the battle to notice that fact sooner.

Starfire said nothing, but Jake knew that he had guessed right. The sky rippled again, and the Earth faded from sight.

"Not that I'm not grateful, but why did you lead us to the Radam's base? More than that," Jake looked right at Starfire. "Why did you have us rescue Ness, or Slade or whatever his name is now?"

I made a promise…_ and that was all Starfire would say about Slade._

Jake knew better than to ask more about Slade, and so he changed the subject. "Why did you come to us?"

The Radam are a danger to you, and now you have been given a weapon to combat that danger.

The sky rippled again, this time showing Slade, asleep in the barn under the blanket Cassie had gotten for him. Jake wondered why Starfire was showing him this, then he realized… Slade was the weapon that Starfire had obliquely referred to. It made sense, since Slade had been transformed when he was in the Radam base.

"So, we have a Teknoman with us now. How can you be sure he won't fight for the Radam when he wakes up?"

Starfire turned his head slightly, looking at Jake out of the side of his left eye. Jake got the feeling that the Tekkaman had been offended by this question. But then he chuckled softly, and Jake knew that he hadn't taken the query personally.

"I was wondering when you would ask me that question, child," Starfire said, speaking out loud for the first time. His voice was muffled in the same way Jake's had been. "Every one of the Radam's servants carries within their bodies a specially engineered parasite to ensure that they never defect. Somewhat like the Yeerks, only these parasites are able to feed off their host instead of having to leave the host to feed."

Starfire sounded mildly sad, as if he pitied them. The host, that is.

"I was able to deactivate the teknopod that held Slade before he was implanted with the parasite."

Jake nodded, knowing that Starfire wouldn't lie after helping him so much. Jake turned to look the Tekkaman in the eye, which was a bit difficult since Starfire was at least eight inches taller than him.

"So, what do we do now?"

"I would advise that you grant Slade the same power that you yourselves have been given."

Jake nodded, somehow not surprised that Starfire knew about that. He had _told Jake to morph, after all. Starfire put his hand on Jake's shoulder, and Jake turned to face the Tekkaman._

Have hope, Jake. It is all that sustains us in such times.

Jake nodded, knowing that there was nothing he could really say to that. Starfire's eyes flashed, both of them glowing this time, and the entire world was washed away in a flash of bright blue light…

*** ***


	15. Recovery mission

Jake woke up; knowing without a doubt that what he had just seen was no dream. It had been almost like the time the Ellimist had come to them. Of course, Starfire hadn't taken him all over the world like the Ellimist had. But he hadn't needed to, not to make his point.

Jake knew that the Animorphs would need to retrieve the blue box, and there was only one person who could take them to it. Jake knew that Slade, judging by the way he hadn't even remembered his own name, wouldn't be able to lead them to his house. But, Tobias had said that he'd followed Ness when he'd taken the box, so Tobias might be able to lead the Animorphs there.

***

Slade blinked, slowly coming awake. Looking at his surroundings, Slade had a rather unnerving thought._ I shouldn't be here. This isn't right, I should be…_ It took Slade a few moments to realize it, but he found that he didn't _know_ where he was supposed to be. All he could come up with was "not here". He didn't even know where _here_ was.

"Oh, you're awake."

Slade's head snapped around, pinpointing the owner of the voice with a hard stare. It was a girl, smaller than him, and with skin the color of fudge brownies. _Not a threat,_ Slade's instincts told him.

"Who are you?" Slade asked, his tone sharp so she would know to answer him quickly.

"I'm Cassie. Who are you?"

"I remember someone calling me Slade," Slade unconsciously pulled a lock of his long black hair. "That's all I can recall."

Slade's voice had gotten softer as he spoke, since there was something about this girl that triggered protective instincts that Slade wasn't even aware he'd _had_. As if she reminded him of someone, but he couldn't remember who.

"I brought you some clothes," Cassie said, showing Slade the bundle of assorted fabric she was carrying. "They're my dad's old clothes, so they might be a little big for you."

She handed the clothes to Slade, who unfolded them and looked at them. He opened his mouth to say thank you, and the most unexpected thing came out instead:

"These aren't really my style."

__

Where the hell did that _come from?_ Slade wondered, once he realized what he'd said. He turned back to Cassie, to apologize for being ungrateful, and saw that she was smiling at him. _Huh?_

"Sorry, you just sound like my friend Rachel. She wouldn't be caught dead wearing things like this, either."

Slade smiled back, not caring at the moment that he didn't know who Rachel was. Cassie was happy, and for some reason that made him happy too. Just then, a gray and white bird came swooping into the barn.

Cassie, have you seen Tobias?

Slade stared hard at the bird, somehow knowing exactly where the new voice was coming from. He was not surprised to have someone speaking directly to his mind, and for a minute he wondered why that was. He noticed that Cassie seemed to be confused by this new development.

__

Who are you? What are you doing here? Slade demanded of the bird, worried about how Cassie seemed to be getting frightened by the voice.

I'm Jake, hi Slade.

Slade narrowed his eyes, wondering how this bird knew his name. He was just about to ask, when said bird swooped down and landed. Then the bird started… changing.

That was the only way Slade could describe it. He wasn't just growing, since Slade's keen eyes could see that the feathers were starting to run together. Slade quickly put on the clothes that Cassie had given him, stepping forward after he was dressed. Whoever this "Jake" was, if he wanted to hurt Cassie, Slade wanted to make sure that he would at least be able to protect her.

Once the bird had finished changing, it had turned into a boy. Jake, as Slade had heard him call himself, was a bit younger than Slade himself. Maybe three or four years. But, the strange part was that Jake was almost as tall as Slade was.

Cassie walked right past him then, going up to Jake. Slade tried to pull her back, since his instincts were telling him that this Jake guy was dangerous.

"Jake, is something wrong?" Cassie asked.

__

What the hell? Slade wondered. She seemed… concerned about him. Slade looked back at Jake, reassessing the other boy. The look on his face when Cassie came up to him… Oh yeah, this guy was dangerous, but not to Cassie._ Good for him,_ Slade thought privately.

They were talking about finding someone named Tobias, and also about finding some blue box._ What's so important about a blue box? _Slade wondered. As he continued to listen, Slade began to form a more complete picture of the people he had fallen in with.

They were talking about turning into animals, and since Slade had seen Jake change from a bird into a young teenage boy, Slade certainly wasn't one to question their conversation. But Cassie was talking about the same thing, in reference to herself. Could Cassie be able to do that too?

At this point, Slade was starting to become confused. How many people _were_ there in this group anyway? Slade had heard Jake mention someone named Marco, but he got the feeling that there was still a lot that they weren't telling him. Finally, Slade got tired of waiting for them to let him in on whatever they were doing.

"What are you two talking about?" Slade asked, walking over to stand with them.

Jake turned, looking at Slade as if to say 'I was wondering when you'd ask me that'.

"We were just going to look for Tobias. One of our friends," Cassie said.

Jake nodded. "That, and we were going to try and find the blue box."

"Yeah, I heard you talking about that. What's so important about a blue box, anyway?"

"You'll find out," Jake said absently, already turning back to talk to Cassie.

Slade crossed his arms, shooting a look at Cassie. From the way he had spoken, both now and during his conversation with Cassie, Slade got the feeling that Jake was the leader of this group. However large it was.


	16. In the long run

Cassie looked over her shoulder at Slade. He seemed to be taking this pretty well. Well, better than another person might. Just then, Cassie heard the distinct flapping of wings that meant a bird had come into the barn.  
  
Hey, Tobias said. Who's the new guy?

Slade turned to Cassie, raising his left eyebrow. He looked incredulous.

"D'you know that you have some really, _really_ strange friends?"

Cassie chuckled. "You don't have to tell me twice," she said with a wry smile.

"Just checking," Slade answered, with a hint of the same kind of smile.

"Tobias, good you're here," Jake called, not giving any indication that he'd heard anything.

Cassie saw Slade turn to look at Tobias, waving to him at his perch on the rafters of the barn.

What the… Ness Carter?

Slade shook his head, sighing and flipping a lock of black hair out of his eyes.

__

Why does everyone insist on calling me that? Slade asked, crossing his arms._ My name is Slade, will you guys at least _try_ to remember that?_

This was Cassie's first experience with real telepathy, as opposed to the thought-speak she was so accustomed to. It was a bit disorienting; more so given the fact that strong emotions were transmitted along with the thoughts themselves. Cassie could tell that Slade was annoyed, that he didn't like being called by a name that he knew wasn't his own.

"All right, Slade," Cassie said. "We won't call you Ness if it bothers you that much."

"Thanks," Slade said, smiling at Cassie. "Well, now that Tobias is here, how about we go and do… Whatever it was that you were planning to do in the first place?"

Jake nodded.

What were you planning on doing? Tobias asked.

"We were planning to go find you first, Tobias," Jake informed the third member of their group. "But since you're already here, I think we can just skip to the part where we go and find the blue box."

Okay. So, where do we start looking?

"Do you remember where the Carters' cabin was?" Jake asked the hawk.

Yeah, but Ness might have taken the box with him when they went camping.

"We'll cross that bridge if we come to it," Jake said, waving a hand in dismissal. "Right now, let's go to the place where it's most likely to still be."

All of the Animorphs present agreed to this course of action. Cassie turned back to Slade.  
  
"Are you going to come with us, Slade?"

"I don't have anywhere else to be at the moment," he answered with a wry smile and a shrug.

Cassie smiled, Jake nodded, satisfied. And Tobias simply flapped his wings and took off from his perch on the rafters. Cassie and Jake quickly morphed wolves.

Follow me, Tobias called to the three of them, as he dove out the open door of the barn.

The two wolves took off at a loping run, with Slade not far behind. It was at this point that Cassie remembered the article of clothing that she'd forgotten to give Slade.

Oh great! I forgot to get him shoes! Cassie accidentally said aloud.

What? Jake asked, Cassie, you forgot _that_?

I-I just didn't think we'd be running anywhere so soon.

Jake sighed silently. Slade, are you all right back there?

__

Yeah, I'm fine.

You sure? You don't want to go back to the barn for a pair of shoes? Jake asked.

__

No.

We're going to be running over some pretty rough terrain, Jake informed him. Are you _sure_ you don't want shoes?

__

Yeah. Trust me, I don't even feel it.


	17. Memories

What Slade had just said was literally true. He really _couldn't _feel the twigs, pine needles and other forest debris that he was running over. Though Slade didn't know it, when he had first set foot on the broken terrain, the Teknocircuts in his feet and legs had powered up instinctively.

The extra energy pumping through his body was being channeled into his feet, giving the skin there a strength boost. The tensile strength of his skin was enhanced until it would almost have been a match for tempered steel.

Ness Carter's body had already been in top physical condition, both from his martial arts training and from his track-and-field. But now, with the alterations and enhancements that the Radam had made to his body, Slade had far more endurance than even the most well trained Olympic athlete.

His speed, physical strength, endurance and reflexes had all been boosted to inhuman levels. He was only running fast enough to keep up with the wolves, but he could have overtaken them at any time.

***

While Slade ran along behind them, Jake was busy berating himself for talking about Animorph business in front of Slade. _Stupid, stupid, stupid! What do I even _know _about the guy? And then I go and tell him _everything_?! What was I thinking?_

Jake would admit, if only to himself, that he _hadn't_ been thinking of the consequences when Slade was in the barn. He had been too focused on what Starfire had told him. That dream had seemed so _real_, but Slade was still an unknown quantity. Jake didn't know if they could trust him.

__

You have instincts, Jake. Trust them.

Starfire?

__

Yes. I am here, the dead Tekkaman said.

What did you mean, before? Will Slade really be a help to us? Will he fight with us? And what about his family?

__

Peace, Jake. Things will go as they must.

What about Slade's family? Jake asked, knowing that Starfire wouldn't tell him anything further about Slade's place in the Animorphs.

__

Slade remembers nothing of his family. It is the way the Radam operate, I'm afraid.

There was no mistaking the pity in Starfire's silent tone. Jake felt sorry for Slade, too. But at least he knew a bit more about Slade than he had before.

***

Cassie was also thinking about the soon-to-be newest Animorph. She wondered why he had been so… protective. It hadn't been as if he was attracted to her, and had seen Jake as a threat. It was more as if he was an older brother looking out for his little sister.

__

I wonder why he did that? Cassie wondered._ Who would I remind him of?_ Cassie was running too fast to risk upsetting her momentum by looking back at Slade, Cassie decided to ask him once they got where they were going.

***

About three miles of dense woods separated Slade and the Animorphs from the Carters' cabin. At the rate they were traveling, it would take them ten more minutes to get there.

***

As he ran, Slade couldn't shake the feeling that he'd done this before. This kind of thing, anyway. Alone in the forest, running and running, people ahead and people behind, but no one close enough to talk to. It was a very freeing experience, or that was what Slade thought.

The area he was in now also seemed familiar to him, though for the life of him Slade couldn't tell why. It was almost as if he had been here before. Shelving those thoughts, Slade focused on his running. He wouldn't do anyone any good if he got lost.

***

Starfire had been silent for some time now, but Jake still felt like the Tekkaman was watching over him. _My own personal guardian angel._ Jake was so surprised by that thought, he nearly stopped in his tracks. Only the fact that they had somewhere to go and that stopping would lead to all kinds of inconvenient questions kept him running. But still, Jake wondered what had prompted him to think of Starfire like that.

He kept running, pushing the thought out of his mind. They were getting closer, Jake could tell. There were old human scents all over this place, Jake could even smell Slade's – or at least Ness' – scent in a fading, but still somewhat distinct trail.

Finally, Jake caught a glimpse of the cabin up ahead. It was really a nice-looking place, even homey in a rustic kind of way.

Okay, we're almost to the cabin now, Tobias said. I think you guys should start slowing down. You don't want to crash into the front of the house, do you?

I have a better idea, Jake said. We'll stop here. We need to consider our next move.

__

Right, Jake, Slade agreed, stopping when he was standing next to Jake and Cassie.

So, how do we get inside? Cassie asked.

If Rachel were here, she'd probably say to break a window, Tobias laughed.

Yeah, I think she would. Jake chuckled softly, then became serious again. But we want to get in there without destroying the house. And preferably without letting anyone know we were there at all.

***

Slade considered the problem. They needed to get inside this house, and Jake didn't want anyone to know they'd been there at all. There was something… something about this house. Something that Slade felt he should be remembering. What was it?

Slade shook his head. _Why is this happening to me?!_ He screamed in the privacy of his own mind. It was just a house, some stupid cabin hidden away in the woods! There was no goddamned reason it should be so… familiar. _I think I'm losing my mind._

Slade narrowed his eyes, trying to look at the house as if it was just a tricky problem he had to solve.

So, Slade, do you have any ideas? Jake asked.

__

Why would I have any better ideas than you? Slade snapped, a little more harshly than he had to. That feeling of familiarity was seriously starting to annoy him.

Oh, no reason, Jake said evasively.

__

You're hiding something from me, Slade snarled, not sure how he knew that, and getting more than a little annoyed at suddenly knowing things without knowing _how_ he knew them.

Slade was about to demand that Jake tell him what he knows, when a thought, actually more of an instinct or an impulse, but something that roughly translated into, _Jake is my leader, if he doesn't want to tell me, then that's his business,_ ran through Slade's mind. This thought, oddly enough, calmed him.

I'm not hiding anything from you, Slade, Jake said.

__

It's not important. I don't need to know. Instead, Slade focused on the cabin in front of him. The vague memory that he had been trying to suppress came to the fore, he was watching... _someone_… put a key into a slot on that door and open it.

Slade didn't know why he was seeing that but, on impulse, he began walking out from under the cover of the trees.

Slade, what are you doing? Cassie asked.

__

I… think I have an idea.

When Slade reached the door, he began feeling along the left edge of the doorframe. There was something here, and Slade had long since decided not to bother questioning the randomly appearing knowledge in his mind anymore. It was there, so he was going to use it, no questions asked.


	18. In and out

After about five minutes of searching, Slade's fingers caught on a ridge. Out of some half-formed instinct, Slade pulled backwards on it. It gave way easily enough, surprisingly, and behind it was a space just slightly bigger than the key it held. Slade held the key for a few seconds, before slipping it into the lock and opening the door.

Once he was inside, Slade remembered that Cassie, Jake and that new guy Tobias were waiting on him.

__

I'm inside. Are you guys coming with me?

Actually, I think a pair of wolves would be a bit suspicious if they were wandering around in someone's house. I think it would be better if we both were to stay outside, Jake said.

__

That sounds reasonable.

Slipping the key into his pants pocket, Slade headed for the stairs. The feelings of familiarity that had been plaguing him ever since he had reached the cabin had increased by a factor of ten, now that he was actually inside.

The place was nice, Slade had to admit. He really wouldn't have minded living here himself. Slade took a moment or two to really appreciate his surroundings, before going up the stairs and focusing on retrieving the blue box. _The second room on the right. How do I know that? I haven't the slightest idea._

Slade chuckled softly; this habit he was developing of talking to himself was a nice distraction from the strange and kind of unnerving familiarity of this place. The door opened almost silently, which Slade was grateful for. He got the feeling that there was someone else in the house, and Slade knew that it wouldn't be good to have them find out that they weren't alone anymore.

The desk. That was the first place it occurred to Slade that he should search. _More instinct,_ Slade smiled. This was starting to get interesting. Sure enough, the first thing he saw sitting on the light-colored wood, almost as if it was just waiting for Slade to come and take it, was the blue box.

__

All this for a paperweight, huh? Slade thought ruefully, fighting a rather strong urge to laugh. Picking it up, Slade found that it was heavier than it looked. That was interesting. Since Slade didn't sense anyone in the immediate vicinity, and since he was really getting curious about why this place seemed so familiar to him, he decided to explore.

Putting the blue box in one of his oversized pockets, the same one that held the house key in fact, Slade took a closer look at the desk. The first thing that caught his attention was a picture. There were three people in the picture, smiling up at him. Two boys and a girl, or three girls, but Slade was pretty sure that the two black-haired figures were male.

__

They look good together. Happy. Slade felt a strange sense of sadness when he had that thought. He frowned, why should he care about some kids in a picture? _Although… they do seem kinda familiar. Damn, there's that word again. That does it, from now on, that word is banned from my vocabulary._ Slade grinned; he wondered just how long he'd be ably to keep _that_ up.

__

Black hair. Two of them have black hair. The third, I think she's a girl, is blonde. Pale blonde at that. Why do they seem so fami-arrrgghh! Why do I think I might know them from somewhere? Slade ran a hand through his own hair, unconsciously brushing some of it over his left shoulder. More black hair. _Hey, wait a minute… _I _have black hair._

About the same length, too, as the guys in the picture. _Coincidence. It has to be. I mean, a lot of people have black hair._ Slade turned away from the desk then, that picture was starting to unnerve him.

Slade headed for the closet, hoping that there weren't going to be any pictures in there. It wasn't that he didn't like seeing those pictures, they were kind of nice in fact, they just made him feel so _weird_. Sliding open the closet door, Slade found that it was a very nicely sized walk-in closet.

"Nice," Slade breathed.

It looked like it was clearly divided between two styles of clothes. On the right, which he couldn't see very well even with his enhanced night-vision, there seemed to be a lot of dark colored clothes. A thin chain, glinting in the light seeping in from the open door, caught Slade's eye just then. Walking up, Slade pulled on it, and suddenly the entire closet was flooded with bright light.

Slade quickly eased the door shut behind him, then began to explore the closet in earnest. Sure enough, the right side was hung with all sorts of dark colors. Black and navy-blue looked like the predominant colors. Sure, there was the occasional black shirt on the left side, where Slade had come in and was still standing, but there was nowhere near the amount that the right side had.

Slade got the impression that two people with very different tastes shared this closet. Slade brushed the row of tee shirts with his fingertips, suddenly pulling one off the rack on a whim. It was one of the few black shirts, and it had a cool looking blue dragon painted across the front. The dragon was backed by a huge burst of flames. After Slade decided to take the shirt, he also took a pair of dark blue jeans for good measure.

__

Why do I suddenly feel like Kyle Reece? Slade asked himself. Then stopped, just as he was starting to pull on the jeans. _Huh? Kyle Reece? Who's that?_ Slade shook his head, that wasn't important right now. Slade pulled on the chain again, shutting off the light. He didn't need it anymore, and didn't want to give anyone who might be looking for him an advantage.


	19. A near thing

Once he was fully dressed, and this included a pair of socks and a pair of sneakers, Slade – without thinking much about it – dumped Cassie's dad's old clothes in a convenient wicker hamper. Slade stretched, feeling much more comfortable in these clothes than he had ever felt in the ones Cassie lent him.

He heard something in the room then, and without a second of hesitation, Slade dove behind the shelf in the middle of the closet. The blue box was lying near his feet, so Slade quickly snatched it up. Seconds later, someone opened the closet door.

"Is someone in there?"

The voice was overtly gruff, but Slade caught hints of wariness and exhaustion that another person might not have. Slade considered rushing him, knocking the man over and diving out the window, but that would only be risking a fight. The most important thing now was to get out of this place with the blue box. Fighting would only compromise that objective, and would also give the person standing in the door a target to follow.

__

Tobias! I need some help in here!

Telepathy, like thought-speak, could be directed at one or more people. Slade was using a tight-beamed transmission, so that he could contact Tobias without possibly alerting the other person. There was something about him, Slade could _sense_ it. He wasn't a Teknoman, Slade would have known that in an instant, but he wasn't just a normal human like Jake or Cassie had seemed to be, either.

But what _was _he then?

What's wrong, Slade?

__

I'm trapped. There's some guy standing in the doorway, and if I move, he'll see me. I have the blue box, by the way.

Well, good work on that at least. I can see him, but only just. You're in the closet?

__

Yeah. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Now I'm not so sure. Slade grinned sheepishly, even though he knew Tobias couldn't see him.

I think I can help. It's a good thing you left the door open. I'll be right there.

__

Thanks.

Now, all Slade could do was wait. Wait to see if Tobias would get here before the other guy decided to come into the closet looking for intruders.

"I won't hurt you," the guy went on. "I just want to know who you are."

__

How can I be sure of that? Slade wanted to ask, but he figured it would be best if he let Tobias handle him. Who knew what that guy might do if he knew Slade had been swiping things that had probably belonged to him? Slade didn't want to find out. Slade heard the beating of wings, and the shrieking of a bird-of-prey.

__

I was wondering when you'd come, Slade said, relieved.

It took me a while to get here. It's not as easy flying inside as out, no wind.

__

Well, you still have great timing.

Thanks.

The flapping was starting to slow down now, and Slade couldn't hear Tobias' distinct cries. He wondered if something had gone wrong. _Great, just great. I call for help, and then end up getting someone I barely know captured by a potential enemy._ Slade wondered if he should try to help.

"Well," he heard the man say. "What's a handsome hawk like you doing in my house?"

__

Well, he doesn't sound_ like an enemy. Still, best to be on guard,_ Slade thought. Slade still didn't know what this man's motives were.

I think he's going to leave now, Slade. I'll tell you when he does. Then, get out while you can. I don't think he's going to hurt me.

__

Right. Thanks, Tobias.

No problem. Okay, we're out the door now. Go!

Not wasting time with words, Slade moved quickly to the closet door. Keeping most of his body hidden, Slade looked around the room with his one visible eye. It was, as Tobias had said, all clear. Slade dashed out of the closet, opened the window and slithered out through the opening. Grabbing on to the windowsill, Slade dropped to the ground.

Slade ran for the cover of the woods.

__

I have it!

Good work, Slade! Cassie said.

Slade smiled. Holding the blue box close to his chest, Slade finally reaches the spot where Jake and Cassie have been waiting for him.

"What do we do now?" Slade asks.

We have to wait for Tobias to get back. We'd be better off doing this at the barn. Less chance of being interrupted, and I don't want to run the risk of losing the box again.

"That sounds reasonable." Slade nodded, crossing his arms and leaning his back against a tree.

I hope Tobias is all right, Cassie sighed.

__

Yeah, so do I, Slade thought silently. He hoped the hawk wasn't in any serious danger because of him.

Did someone call me?

__

Tobias! Good to see you again, hawk-boy.

Did you have any trouble getting out? Cassie asked, concerned.

No. None at all. The man who let me out was actually a nice guy. He just took me to the door and let me fly away. He said not to fly into any more houses, but I think he was just making a joke.


	20. Inductee

That's good, at least we know he's not a Controller, Cassie said.

__

All right, now that everyone's all back together, maybe we should go and do whatever we were going to do at the barn, hmm?

Yeah, let's get going, Jake said.

Jake and Cassie had demorphed and remorphed, so they didn't need to worry about the time limit. As before, Slade ran along behind Jake and Cassie.

Tobias, go get Ax. We're going to need him for this, Jake said.

I'm on my way, Jake.

__

Good luck, hawk-boy.

Thanks, Slade.

No one turned to watch Tobias leave, since all of them were running too fast to risk throwing off their momentum that way. The trip back to the barn took only as long as the trip to the cabin had, but the three of them were silent the whole way. Slade was wondering what would happen when the three of them met up with Tobias at the barn. And just who was this Ax, anyway?

Soon, they were safely back inside the barn.

So, Slade, where did you get those new clothes? Jake asked.

"I found them in the closet."

Cassie and Jake had both started to demorph at this point, and Jake had reached the stage where thought-speak was no longer possible, but he still wasn't human enough to speak normally. Cassie, however, was a different story.

"What did you do with my dad's old clothes?"

"I – well, I kinda left them back at that cabin. They're in a hamper."

"You did _what_?" Jake had just now regained the ability to speak.

"I'm sorry, Jake. I wasn't thinking clearly."

Slade wondered what kind of disciplinary structure Jake had, what kind of things he did to his soldiers when they failed him. Slade didn't _think_ he'd done anything worthy of outright execution, but Jake was still a bit of an unknown quantity. Jake seemed fair enough, but time would tell if that assessment had been true. But, whatever came, Slade would face it. He was still a warrior, after all.

***

Jake could hear Ax's hoofbeats getting closer, and noticed that Slade seemed to be waiting for him to do something.

"Let's just forget about the clothes. With any luck, whoever that guy was, he won't come anywhere near this place."

And even if he did, I'd see him long before he got here.

"Hey, hawk-boy. Back so soon?" Slade asked.

Ax was easier to find than usual.

Jake got the feeling that, if he could have, Tobias would have shrugged when he answered. About a minute later, Ax came racing into the barn.

I came as quickly as I could, Prince Jake, the Andalite said.

"Don't call me prince. And thanks for coming so quickly, Ax."

Yes, Prince Jake.

__

Why do I even bother? Jake thought, exasperated.

__

Prince _Jake?_ Slade asked, incredulous.

Turning to Slade, Jake mouthed the words "don't ask" at the older boy. Slade shrugged, turning to study Ax more closely.

"So who's this, Jake?" Slade asked.

"Slade, this is Ax. Ax, I think you remember Slade, right?"

Yes, Prince Jake. I remember. Why does he have the Escafil device?

"We managed to recover it. Now, we're going to use it."

"Use it for what?" Slade asked.

Jake turned to Slade, inwardly wincing at not asking his opinion before making this decision. That wasn't like him at all.

"We were planning, or at least _I _was planning, to use the blue box to make you an Animorph. Like the rest of us. I'm sorry that I didn't ask your opinion first."

Jake had expected Slade to be, at the least, annoyed with him for making this decision without even asking Slade for his input. He did _not_ expect Slade to shrug it off. That, however, was just what he did.

"It's at your discretion whatever you want to do. You're the leader, after all."

"All right," Jake said, trying not to seem surprised by how Slade had reacted. "Come here, we'll do it right now. I'll take care of telling the others when it comes to that."

"All right."

Slade came up to where Ax was standing, still holding on to the blue box.

"Slade, you'll have to give the box to Ax."

Without a word, Slade handed the blue box to Ax. Once Ax had a good grip on the box, which took a bit longer than it would have if he had been human, Ax held it out to Slade.

Place your hand on the side that is closest to you, Ax instructed, much the same way Elfangor had done, all those months ago.

Slade looked at Jake, as if he was asking for permission. Jake nodded, so Slade pressed his right hand against the front of the box, then jerked it back suddenly.

"I think it shocked me," Slade said uncertainly. "Was it supposed to do that?"

"It's the same thing that happened to us," Jake said. "I think that's just what it does when it gives someone the morphing power."

"Now, we need to get you a morph that can fly," Cassie said, smiling.

"Sounds fun." Slade grinned back.

They walked over to the long row of tables, that in turn held a long row of cages. Most of them were filled with animals that were sick or had been injured in some way. A scarce few were empty. Then, far away from the land animals that were being cared for, there were the birds.

Most of them were injured, but that had no bearing on the state of their DNA. Morphs recreated from these birds would share none of their physical problems. Slade headed over to the table that held the cages with birds in them, trailing behind Cassie like an obedient first-grader, happy and eager to please.

"So, what are some of these birds called?" Slade asked.

"That one's a Merlin," Cassie said, pointing out the small bird with the broken wing. "This one, is a Bald eagle. This is the morph Rachel uses for flying, in fact."

"Rachel's your friend, right?" Slade asked.

"Rachel's a friend to all of us, really. She's another Animorph."

"Oh, that's interesting. Hey, what's this bird called?"

Cassie turned to see what Slade was looking at.

"Oh, that's a raven," she said.

"A Raven…" Slade trailed off._ Why? Why does that name seem so familiar to me? It's just a bird… Right?_

Slade shook that off, it looked like a good enough morph to use for flying. Now, how to get what he needed from it? _Why not ask the expert?_ Slade turned back to Cassie.

"So, what do I do now?"

"You've chosen the bird you want to morph?"

"Yeah, I have."

"Which one?"

"The Raven." Slade shrugs.

"Okay." Cassie opened the raven's cage, motioning Slade to step forward at the same time. He did, still looking to her for directions. "Reach in, and put your hand on the raven's back." Slade did so, looking at the thick, white bandages that had been wrapped around its wings. "Now, all you need to do is concentrate. Form a picture of the raven in your mind, and focus on that."

"You've been doing this for a long time, huh?"

"There are times that it seems like it's been forever," Cassie said with a soft, rueful chuckle.

Slade smiled back, before tuning out his surroundings and focusing on the image of the raven that he'd just created in his mind. His eyes slipped closed of their own volition, helping him to better focus. Once he was done, Slade blinked himself out of the mild trance that he'd fallen into.

"Whoa. That was interesting," he said, shaking his head to help clear it.


	21. In Dreams

Slade yawned, all the excitement of the day suddenly catching up to him. Swaying on his feet before quickly steadying himself, Slade turned back to Cassie.

"Sorry to be so much trouble, but is there a place that I could sleep without being seen?" Slade asked.

"It's really no trouble." Cassie smiled at him. "I'll take your blanket up to the hayloft. No one will be able to come in without you seeing them, and no one really goes up there except us Animorphs."

"That sounds good," Slade said, yawning again.

Cassie and Slade climbed into the hayloft, Cassie leading the way. Slade looked around the loft, there was a sparse scattering of hay over the floor, but other than that it didn't look bad. There were also some large stacks of hay-bales on either side of the main area. Cassie kicked some of the hay aside, using her foot as a broom. Then, Cassie lay the blanket that she'd given him down on the floor.

"Do you have any old pillows I could use?" Slade asked.

"D'oh! I completely forgot about that." Cassie slapped her forehead. "I guess I'm just not used to hiding people in my barn."

"That's okay. I'm not used to being hidden in a barn, so I guess it balances out," Slade said, grinning and shrugging.

"I'll go try and find you a pillow," Cassie said, waving to Slade before climbing back down the ladder.

Slade yawned again, sitting and eventually laying down on the floor. Pulling the blanket up over his shoulders, it wasn't long before Slade drifted off to sleep.

__

*** ***

"Get out of my room, you little psycho!"

"I may be a psycho, but at least I'm still cute!"

"(sigh) It never ends, does it?"

Two blurry, shadowed figures went racing past his vantagepoint, the larger one chasing the smaller.

"Not in our lifetime, N---."

---

"That was out-of-bounds and you know it, C-----!"

There was a net strung on two high poles, dividing the playing area into two equal-sized halves. A larger group of indistinct figures were standing on both sides of the net.

"You're seeing things C---! N---, tell him he's crazy!"  


"Oh no you don't! You're not sucking me into your little spat, I'm an official neutral party."

--

"Green oatmeal?"

"Yeah. A whole bucket of it no less."

"Isn't that a little… extreme? I mean, all he did was put a bit of seaweed in. It's not like he ground it up so it'd be impossible to take out."

"It's the principle of the thing, N---! I'm not going to let C----- go on thinking he can put that disgusting stuff in my food, and there won't be any repercussions!"

Arms akimbo, one of the blurry shadows was the picture of unwavering defiance. The other one seemed to be shaking its head, as if whatever was going to happen, he wanted no part of it.

"Okay, but just make sure you tell him that I wasn't involved. All right?"

"Yeah, yeah. I will. Now, did you get the dye or not?"

The figure that had been shaking his head only a second ago, sighed and handed the other one something.

--

"What? Do I have something on my nose?"

"No. I was just thinking. You and C----- look a lot alike."

"Well, duh. He's my brother, what did you expect?"

"You know, if you cut your hair, you'd look like a not-so-much-smaller version of him."

"And? Your point is?"

"Well, I could cut it for you."

"Oh, no way in Hell! I happen to like_ my hair."_

"Come on. You look like a black-haired, green-eyed David Bowie."

"Do not disparage the hair, okay?"

--

"Oooh, cookies!"

"You like them? They're my Home Ec homework."

This new voice was female, and a bit younger-sounding than the one he'd heard last.

"Yeah, these are wonderful, S----. You're really getting the hang of this cooking stuff."

"Thanks, N---."

--

"Hey, it's time for school N---. Wake up, you're going to be late."

"C'mon, N---. If I have to get dragged to the most boring place on earth, you are most definitely coming with me."

"Wake up N---. Come on, time to get up now…"

"Wake up…"

"Wake up…"

"Wake up…"

*** ***


	22. Waking Dream

"Slade, wake up," Cassie said, shaking his shoulder.

Slade moaned softly, the warm, fuzzy grip of unconsciousness only reluctantly releasing its hold on his mind. Slade was still hovering in that uncertain twilight between sleep and wakefulness, he said the first thing that came to his still-clouded mind.

"Shara?"

"Who?" Cassie asked.

Slade sat up, his vision only now clearing. He was a bit stiff and sore from falling asleep on the hard floor of the hayloft, but he did feel more rested for his brief nap. He also felt more than a little confused after all those weird dreams.

"What?" Slade didn't know why Cassie was looking at him like that, as if she was just as confused as he felt.

"You called me Shara just now? Who's Shara?"

"You know, I really don't know," Slade said, wishing for a minute that he could just be someone normal.

"Well, okay. Anyway, I found a pillow that you can use. No one will notice if it suddenly disappears. But still, I think you'd better hide it when you're not using it."

"That sounds like a good idea," Slade said. "Thanks."

Cassie turned away, waving to Slade just before she started climbing back down the ladder. Slade smiled, this was sure to be interesting.


	23. Helping Hands

Later that same day, Rachel and Cassie met up at the barn.

"So, what's he like?" Rachel asked, wanting to know more about the seventh Animorph that Jake had recruited while she was away.

"He seems nice enough," Cassie said, remembering the way Slade had been so accommodating to her and Jake. "He's still kind of strange, though."

"And that's another thing," Rachel said, putting her hands on her hips as if she was ready to start lecturing at a moment's notice. "Why wasn't I called in for this mission?"

Cassie shrugged, looking away from her best friend of so many years. "It was kind of a spur-of-the-moment mission. I didn't even really get to think about it much before we were done."

"Okay," Rachel said in a teasing voice. "I'll accept that. But from now on, I want to be in on all of your future escapades."

"Right, from now on I'll be sure to call you before Jake drags me off on an unexpected Animorph mission," Cassie said, in the same tone.

Rachel and Cassie burst out laughing, not even trying to keep straight faces. When they had finally run out of breath, Rachel looked down at Cassie's jeans and let off a long, dramatic sigh.

"Cassie, Cassie, Cassie. Okay, if you want to go out in public wearing boy's jeans, that's fine. It's even fine if you want to go around with those God-awful Old MacDonald overalls. But the _least_ you could do is buy jeans that fit."

"These fit me just fine," Cassie protested.

"Cassie, you know that you're my best friend in the world," Rachel began, crossing her arms and giving Cassie a sideways look. "You know I'd do anything for you. But those jeans are short enough to wade across the Mississippi and not get wet. When exactly did you buy them, when you were four years old?"

Cassie looked down at her jeans and grinned. She knew that Rachel was one of those people who didn't ever want to go out of her house without having a perfectly coordinated outfit on. In fact, the only time that Rachel _hadn't_ been wearing one of her famously coordinated outfits had been when she had lost her memory.

Rachel had come out of the forest wearing what were obviously someone else's clothes. The jeans that she had been wearing had been shorter than the ones Cassie was wearing now.

"Are you saying that these jeans are too short?" Cassie grinned.

"Not if you think there's a flood coming," Rachel said with a mock serious look. "If there was a flood coming, those would be the perfect jeans to wear. Why don't you come with me? I'm going to… you know, that place. They're having a lot of sales right now. I want you to come with me."

"I'm not going to the mall with you," Cassie stated, knowing what Rachel was talking about.

"Who's going to the mall?" Cassie's father Walter asked, coming into the barn suddenly.

"Rachel's going to the mall," Cassie answered, long used to the way her dad would come and go at a moment's notice. She was just thankful that he'd been away while she had been hiding Slade.

"Will you _please_ make Cassie come with me?" Rachel asked.

"Sorry, Rachel. No can do, I need Cassie right now. Crazy Helen just called, apparently there's a sick horse way out on the edge of the Dry Lands."

Rachel looked down at Walter's own jeans, like Cassie's, they ended above the tops of his shoes. Walter was also wearing mismatched socks.

"Gee, I wonder where Cassie gets it from?" Rachel asked dryly.

"Darn," Cassie shrugged helplessly. "Now I can't drag behind you for three hours while you power-shop and guys drool all over you. Oh, life is so _cruel_. Oh, whatever _will_ I do?"

Rachel sighed, then started to laugh. "Hey, a sick horse is _way_ more important than buying jeans that go all the way down. I _suppose_ that we could always go to the mall later."

"Why don't you come with me?" Cassie asked, echoing Rachel's earlier question. "We could always use another pair of hands," _and I don't want to spend another car trip listening to my dad doing his Stevie Wonder impersonations_ Cassie made sure not to say.

"Right, I'll have to get back to you on that," Rachel said.

Rachel seemed about to say no, so Cassie offered something that she knew Rachel wouldn't be able to resist.

"Come with us, and tomorrow I'll go to the mall and let you pick out a new pair of jeans for me."

  
"A _real _pair of jeans? Not some stupid, blue cardboard-looking bargain jeans? Of course, you'll need a nice new top to go with them…" Rachel trailed off, and Cassie knew that her friend was mentally running through the selection of every clothing store in the mall.


	24. Ride the night

Walter smiled; it was nice to see that Cassie had such a good friend. When Rachel finally agreed to come along, contingent on the fact that Cassie had promised to go shopping with her tomorrow, Walter was quick to herd them into his new pickup truck. He did still miss his old one sometimes, but the new truck wasn't without its good points.

They were soon on their way to the Dry Lands. The daylight slowly faded away as the three of them left the city behind. The Dry Lands were an empty, savannah-like area, well beyond the last vestiges of the city.

Cassie shifted in her seat, wishing they would get there faster, just so she could finally get out of this cramped front seat. She could also tell that Rachel was getting antsy too, Cassie thought it would have been better for both of them if they had been in a place where they could have talked privately.

But the back of the truck was off-limits for safety reasons, and the cab was extremely crowded. _Not to mention the fact that my dad is sitting right next to us. There's no way we could even mention the Animorphs without it leading to all kinds of questions._

Cassie also knew that there was a chance that her father was a Controller, one of the very enemies that the Animorphs were fighting against. Cassie personally doubted it, but there was no way to really be sure, and no way that Cassie would risk the safety of any of her friends just because she happened to be bored for a minute.

"So, who's Crazy Helen anyway?" Cassie heard Rachel ask.

Cassie was glad that someone had finally thought of something to talk about.

"We probably shouldn't call her that, even though that's what she calls herself," Cassie heard her dad say. "She's an old woman, maybe eighty years old, and she runs a souvenir shop out in the Dry Lands. She lives in a trailer behind the shop. I met her a few years ago, when she called me because of some trouble with the Dry Lands horse herds."

"There was a problem with intestinal parasites," Cassie elaborated, noticing that Rachel was nodding in that way that people did when they didn't really understand something, but didn't really want to ask more about it. "Worms."

"For who?" Rachel asked, smirking slightly. "The horses, or Crazy Helen?"

__

Well, I think I walked right into that one, Cassie thought.

"There it is," Cassie's father pointed out, interrupting Cassie's search for a funny comeback to Rachel's remark.

A huge billboard, bigger than the actual store in fact, loomed ahead of them. Cassie's father stopped the truck in front of the store. The billboard itself read: **Last Chance Souvenirs. **The store was closed, and it looked like it had been that way for some time by now.

Behind the store was an Airstream trailer, sitting there and looking like the front end of a Bullet-train. Out from under an awning decorated with Christmas lights came Crazy Helen. Crazy Helen did look a bit eccentric, dressed as she was in an old, faded flowered blouse, somewhat complemented by patched jeans and cowboy boots.

Cassie and Rachel both thought she looked strange, but Rachel was grinning at the mental picture that this old woman was giving her. Rachel leaned closer to Cassie, fighting to keep herself from bursting out laughing.

"Hey Cassie, it's _you_. In about sixty or seventy years, that is."

Cassie elbowed Rachel in the side, and the both of them started laughing.

"Well, actually, you'll probably start some volunteer organization that saves unhappy chickens and whales, or something like that," Rachel continued, gently poking Cassie in the ribs.

Cassie grinned back, finding that image of her future more to her liking. Though, Cassie wasn't really sure _how_ she was going to work with whales and chickens at the same time. But still, it was the sentiment that counted.

"She's over there. Over _there_," Crazy Helen said, heading for them as soon as they were out of the truck. "It's a big roan mare. She's been acting all funny. Like maybe she's been eating the loco weed."

"Loco weed?" Rachel asked, turning to Cassie.

Cassie shrugged; she didn't know what Helen was talking about, either.

"Hi, Helen. We'll go take a look at her, see what we might have on our hands. How have you been lately?"

"Those darned aliens still won't let me sleep," Crazy Helen complained.

Cassie's father was facing Helen, and Helen was more focused on him than on anything else, so neither of them saw Rachel suddenly stiffen, snapping ramrod-straight and narrowing her eyes at Crazy Helen._ Could she know?_ Rachel wondered. Cassie leaned over to whisper discreetly in Rachel's ear.

"Different aliens," she said, and winked.

"They keep on sending me the messages through my teeth," Crazy Helen went on; as if what she was saying was perfectly sensible. "They keep on telling me they're gonna land, right out here. But I haven't seen a Martian land in forty years. They're very sneaky. Very, very sneaky, untrustworthy folks."

"Who?" Walter asked.

"The Martians, that's who!" Crazy Helen laughed.

Cassie couldn't help noticing that hers was not the laugh of a madwoman, but more that of someone that knew what they were talking about. Cassie often wondered if Helen was really crazy, or if she was just putting everyone else on.

"Well, we'll go take a look at this horse." Walter turned away, heading back to his truck.


	25. Inner Knowing

The three of them took out large hand-held flashlights, turned them on, and started walking out into the darkness. The moon was out, but the slim crescent did almost nothing to illuminate their path. The lights of the billboard and trailer both were soon swallowed up by the blackness of the night.

The knee-high grass of the Dry Lands rustled in passing as the three of them continued on. Walter and Cassie both looked out ahead, searching for the sick roan mare, Rachel happened to glance back toward the highway, and it was she who spotted the horse.

"Hey," Rachel turned back to where Cassie and her father were looking. "Is that the horse you're looking for?"

"Where?" Walter asked.

"There. Back by the road. Over by that pay phone," Rachel said.

Cassie and her father both turned to look in the direction that Rachel was pointing. Sure enough, there was a scruffy roan horse over by the pay phone on the other side of the highway. The horse was swaying from side to side as it walked, like it was either disoriented or badly injured.

Even as they watched, the horse ambled up to the vacant pay phone. That was when things took a turn for the weird, as the three of them were closing in on the horse, the horse picked up the telephone receiver in its mouth and dropped it to the ground, then it horse bent its head down to the ground and picked up a long twig. It started poking at the keypad with its twig, seeming almost to be dialing a number.

"Am I crazy, or is that horse trying to make a phone call?" Rachel asked.

"She must be disoriented," Walter shrugged. "Doesn't know what she's doing. C'mon, let's get over there."

Cassie slowed down, falling into step with Rachel.

"That horse is dialing the phone," Rachel whispered.

"Sure looks that way," Cassie whispered back.

"Maybe she's ordering a pizza?" Rachel fought to hold back a snicker.

"Hay, alfalfa, and extra cheese?" Cassie was also struggling to hold back laughter.

While the two girls were kidding around, Walter walking closer and closer to the injured horse. He was moving slowly, so as not to frighten the animal, but when the horse noticed him, she didn't seem to care about the effort. She hesitated, looked at the phone as though she wanted to complete her call, then abruptly decided to run away.

"Whoa, girl, easy does it," Walter said, in that high-pitched voice that he used for calming down frightened animals. "I'm just trying to help you."

Or, at least she tried to run; her body wasn't up to that kind of activity. The mare wobbled as she tried to walk, swaying away into the darkness. There was a loud thump as she fell to the ground, just out of sight of the humans who were trying to help her.

The three of them rushed over to the horse. Walter and Cassie in the lead, with Rachel following close behind. Father and daughter found the horse lying on the ground, dazed and still struggling to stand. She was sweating profusely, glaring at her would-be rescuers with wild, wide-apart brown eyes.

"What do you think it is?" Cassie asked her father.

"It could be a lot of things, but I'd put my money on snake bite," Walter said. "Try and keep her calm, I have to get some things from the truck. I'll be right back." Walter patted the horse's neck, then turned and walked back to where his truck was parked. Trusting Cassie's skills with animals to see her through.

"Snakes?" Rachel asked, having heard the conversation between Cassie and her dad.

"Sure. There are a lot of snakes out here." Cassie stroked the horse, then gently patted her flank. Cassie was making the same soothing sounds that she usually did when she was working with the animals in the barn.

"Not at night though, right?" Rachel asked, starting to feel more than a little nervous. "Snakes would be more of a daytime thing… wouldn't they?"

"Not always," Cassie said, not helping Rachel's piece of mind in the least.

"Oh great. You know, this is _much_ better than going to the mall. Poison snakes and phone-calling horses," Rachel said sarcastically.

Cassie shook her head in fond exasperation. Rachel was sometimes a bit of a tease, but a more loyal friend was hard to find. Cassie turned back to the horse, and noticed that something was happening to its head. Specifically, to the horse's left ear. It looked like something was trying to crawl out. Something gray and slimy.

"Is that what I think it is?" Rachel asked, not really wanting to believe she was really seeing what she was seeing.

"Yeah, I think so," Cassie said, her mouth going dry at the thought of what this meant. "A Yeerk. There was a Yeerk in this horse."

The Yeerk was writhing its way across the grass, looking more like an oversized slug than anything else. It squirmed and oozed out of the meager light, trying to get as far away from its former host as it could. Cassie looked back over her shoulder and saw her father digging through the medical supplies that he had brought in the back of his truck. When Cassie turned back to the mare, she saw that there was a pale stallion standing in front of them. Just out of reach.

The stallion wasn't all that large, but from the first glance, Cassie knew that he was a powerful animal. The stallion walked calmly toward them, holding its proud head high. Cassie saw him look down at the injured mare, and then watched as he turned his gaze to the Yeerk writhing on the ground.

As Cassie watched, half blind in the darkness, the Yeerk tried to raise itself up as if to touch the stallion. The stallion turned and raced away into the deep darkness, and a sudden unexplainable feeling of foreboding took hold of Cassie.

"Rachel?" she asked.

"Yeah?"

"We have to get out of here."

"What do you mean?" Rachel asked. "Why?"

"Just do it. Run. Now! _Run_!"

Cassie took hold of Rachel's arm, pulling her friend along as she ran. They managed to make it about eight steps, before the ground around them exploded in a hail of bright red light. Both girls knew that particular quality of light all too well: Dracon beams.


	26. Fire and Brimstone

Two shots were all it took to reduce the ground around them to flaming, flying rubble. But the Yeerks didn't seem to care about that; all they cared about was making absolutely sure that there was not even the slightest bit of evidence that there had ever been a Yeerk in that area.

***

Standing at his truck, digging through the various medical instruments and bottles of anti-venom, Walter heard a sudden loud explosion. Turning to look over his shoulder, Walter saw that the area that was currently being blown apart, was the same area that Cassie, Rachel, and the injured mare had been standing in.

At that moment, Walter stopped thinking or wondering, or doing anything except running as fast as he could to where his daughter and her best friend had been standing. The area had stopped exploding by now, which was good, but most of the dry brush in that area had caught fire, so Walter knew he would have to move fast.

Not caring that he was running into a place that looked like the gates of Hell, Walter vaulted through a low wall of fire. When he saw that Cassie was unconscious, and that Rachel was dragging her out of the way of the spreading fire, Walter felt a flash of admiration for the blonde girl. It took a very special bond to be willing to stand practically in the middle of a raging inferno just to have a chance at saving a friend.

Rachel seemed to be having some trouble now, and Walter didn't pause to consider why, instead putting on a burst of speed and clearing the last bit of distance between himself and his daughter. Without a word, Walter lifted Cassie's legs, and he and Rachel ran out of the path of the blazing fire.

"Thanks," Rachel gasped, breathing hard, and bending double to catch her breath.

"Anytime," Walter nodded.

Walter lifted Cassie's legs again, and Rachel picked her friend up by the shoulders.

"We need to get Cassie someplace safe," Rachel said.

Walter more than agreed with her.

"Help me get her back to the shop," he said.

Rachel and Walter ran as fast as they could, all the way back to Crazy Helen's shop. When they got there, panting and out of breath, Crazy Helen was already outside.

"So what's wrong with – My god! What happened?" Helen gasped, catching sight of Cassie's unconscious body.

"A fire," Walter said, still breathing heavily from his run. "Some kind of explosion caused it. Cassie and Rachel were both caught in it."

"Let's get them inside, then," Helen said, hustling Rachel and Walter into the store, since her trailer was a bit small to fit four people comfortably.


	27. Nightwalking

Cassie shifted, slowly coming around after having passed out. She found herself lying on a hard, cold surface. Opening her eyes, Cassie was surprised to find herself staring into the eyes of a small, childlike, frail-looking alien. It looked a great deal like the characters in _Close Encounters of the Third Kind_. In fact, as Cassie looked closer, she found that it looked _exactly_ like one of them.

Cassie blinked, shaking her head and looking again at the alien standing in front of her. She then saw that it was a life-sized, freestanding cardboard cutout, and that there were more of them standing around. At least, Cassie saw that there was _one_ more of them: Data the android from Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Looking around, Cassie saw that she was surrounded by various kinds of sci-fi memorabilia. Toy phasers, Darth Vader masks, Spock ears, plastic lightsabers and other strange odds and ends lined the shelves around her. There was also a large collection of posters hanging on the walls, also echoing the general sci-fi theme of the place. Posters from _The X-Files_, _Mystery Science Theater 3000_, Jane Fonda as Barbarella, and also movie posters. There were theatrical posters from _Plan 9 From Outer Space_,_ The Day The Earth Stood Still_, _Invasion of the Body Snatchers_, and _2001: A Space Odyssey_.

Most of the shelf space, however, was taken up by pencils, mugs, t-shirts ashtrays and posters, all of them bearing the same red and white logo with the same stenciled lettering. The letters all spelled out the same thing: Area 51. Cassie didn't know what "Area 51" was, but she didn't have any time to think about that.

"She's awake." Cassie heard Rachel's voice coming from somewhere behind her.

Rachel strolled casually up to Cassie, holding what appeared to be a small stick.

"What's going on?" Cassie asked, feeling more confused than groggy, which she thought was strange since the last thing she remembered was being caught in an explosion and then nearly being engulfed by a fire, before passing out from the heat.

"You were knocked out. You know, after that totally unexplainable explosion happened," Rachel said, giving Cassie a look.

Cassie knew what Rachel's hidden meaning was. As far as the adults were concerned, there had been no Yeerk, no Dracon beams fired at them, and the mysterious fire would have to remain just that. Mysterious. Cassie turned, and saw her father and Crazy Helen come rushing over to her. Her dad knelt beside her and started running his hands over her head.

"Ow! Dad, cut it out!"

"She looks okay," he muttered. "Superficial cut. Serious bruising, but I doubt she has a concussion. Still, I'll take you by the hospital emergency room before we go home. Have the doctors there check you out. And Rachel too, both of you probably inhaled some smoke in that fire."

Rachel gave Cassie a sly wink. "Doctor Carter may be there. Noah Wyle. I wouldn't mind seeing _him_."

"What happened out there?" Cassie asked her father.

"Well, Cassie -"

"It was the aliens!" Crazy Helen broke in. "They have those exploding rocks that they spread around out there. BOOM!"

Walter sighed, rolling his eyes. "We're on the edge of an Air Force facility. They have a base out on the edge of the Dry lands. You can see the jets flying over most of the time. One of them probably just lost a bomb or a missile by accident, that snake-bit horse must have set it off. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"That sounds possible," Cassie said.

"It was the Martians!" Crazy Helen exclaimed. "They keep a bunch of aliens locked up at Area 51. That's why it's so secret out there. That's why the government won't talk about it! The Air Force keeps them locked up in cages to extract the secrets of new technologies from them. You think computers and stealth just happened? All that stuff came from aliens! Here, have a souvenir mug. They're normally $10.99, but you can have this one free because you got hurt."

Crazy Helen pulled one of the mugs off the shelf, polished it with the sleeve of her blouse, then handed it over to Cassie. Cassie took the mug with a sort of bemused smile. It seemed kind of odd to her, to receive a gift for nearly getting killed.

"I have a pecan log," Rachel said, holding up her stick.

"Do you want a mug, too?" Crazy Helen asked.

"No, I like the pecan log. But I don't really believe in aliens," Rachel lied with a perfectly straight face.

Helen smiled knowingly. "A lot of people _do_, young lady. Very smart people, too. Out there at Area 51 they know, oh they _know_. The government doesn't want any of the few people who know the truth to tell anyone else. Right now, the microchip they put in my head is transmitting every word I say to one of their black helicopters. And then the helicopter relays the info they gather to the secret base of the New World Order out in the Azores, which is where Atlantis is, you know?"

The three of them just gave Helen an incredulous look, since none of them really knew how to respond to that.

"Well, we might as well get out of Helen's hair," Walter said, supporting Cassie and putting his other hand on Rachel's shoulder. "Cassie, are you sure you're all right? Can you focus your eyes?"

"Um, yeah, I'm fine." Cassie took a breath, knowing what the answer was probably going to be, but still wanting conformation. "What about the horse we were taking care of? What happened to her?"

Walter shook his head, not quite believing what had happened himself. "It's the strangest thing, but there isn't a trace of her left. Not a trace."

Cassie sighed; she'd suspected something like that. A point-blank shot from a Dracon beam tended to leave nothing behind but a severe burn mark on a surface, and in all that fire, one more burn wasn't going to attract any attention.

"Hah!" Crazy Helen burst in. "It was the Martians! This is all the fault of those darned aliens!"

Cassie and Rachel both had to make an effort to keep straight faces. Their thoughts were remarkably similar:_ It's a very strange sort of world when a person who calls herself Crazy Helen is at least partially right._

The three of them said their good-byes to Helen, and met up at the truck.

"Well," Walter said. "I think this definitely takes the cake as one of the strangest, most dangerous animal rescues we've ever done."

No one had anything to say to that, and so the three of them were silent the rest of the way. Walter made good on his intent to take Cassie and Rachel to the hospital, and both of them were checked for signs of smoke inhalation, and Cassie was checked over to see whether or not she had a concussion.

As it turned out the only things that the two of them had gotten, besides freaked out, was Cassie's cut and her bump on the head. The doctor had said that the headache would probably go away by the time she got home.

Walter dropped Rachel off at her house, thanking her again for risking her life for Cassie. Once Walter and Cassie got home, Walter gave Cassie a fatherly hug, kissed her goodnight, and tucked her into bed.


	28. Return to Normality

The next day when Cassie woke up, she _did_ feel a lot better. All that Cassie felt was a slight throbbing in her right temple, where her head had hit the ground and been cut. Compared to the headache Cassie had had when she first woke up in Crazy Helen's store, this was quite an improvement. Cassie yawned; turning over to look at the alarm clock that sat on the nightstand beside her bed. Cassie saw that she had at least fifteen minutes before her father would come to wake her up for school.

Cassie didn't particularly feel like lounging around in bed now, though, so she got up, flipped the covers back over her bed, gathered up the clothes she was going to wear today, and headed over to the bathroom to wash up and change.

Once Cassie was dressed and ready, she came down to the kitchen to have some breakfast.

"Cassie, I was just going to go wake you up." Walter smiled at his daughter. "Are you feeling better this morning? No headache, dizziness or nausea?"

"Yes, no, no, and only a little one," Cassie said, smiling back at her father.

"Walter told me about your adventure last night," Aisha, Cassie's mother, said. She was smiling too. "I'm glad you got home all right, but I'm still going to have to tell you to be more careful in the future. Standing under falling artillery shells isn't exactly a good idea."

Cassie knew that her mother was only teasing her. "Yes, mom. I'll make sure to get out of the way of a shell I can't see."

Cassie and her mother both laughed, and Cassie went over to the cupboard to get some cereal for breakfast.

After breakfast, Cassie's father drove her to school like he did every weekday. The drive this time, though, was filled with stories of their previous animal rescues, and comparisons of the dangers of said animal rescues. As expected, not one of them even came close to what they had been though last night.

They arrived at the school building five minutes before the first bell was set to ring.

"Have a good day at school, Cassie."

"I will, dad." Cassie kissed him on the cheek. "I'll see you after school."

Walter waved to Cassie as she exited the truck and walked out onto the curb. Cassie waved back, and watched as her dad drove away. Cassie sighed; another day at school had now begun.

As she headed for her locker, Cassie saw that Rachel was waiting for her there.

"Hi, Rachel."

"Hey, Cass. We're still on for tonight, if that's what you were wondering about." Cassie smothered a laugh, she in fact _had_ been hoping that Rachel might have forgotten about her promise to go to the mall today. "I'm just here to tell you that Jake wants to meet up with us at the food court when we get to the mall, after we finish shopping, of course."

"Of course," Cassie echoed, and wondered if the meeting with Jake would be as innocent as Rachel was making it out to be. Cassie doubted it, since nothing was as innocent as it seemed now. _Especially for an Animorph,_ Cassie thought.

"C'mon," Rachel said. "We've got to get to class."

After school, Cassie and Rachel met up with Walter at the curb.

"So its off to the mall for you girls, huh?" Walter asked in a playful tone.

"Yeah," Cassie sighed dramatically. "The things I do for a friend."

They all laughed at that. Walter backed out of the parking lot, turned around, and headed for the main road. On the drive to the mall, there was a comfortable silence between the three of them. After about a half-hour, they arrived in the parking lot in front of the mall. Since Walter was only making a quick drop-off - and the inevitable pick-up once the two of them were done shopping - he just parked the truck at the curb and waited.

"Thanks for the ride, dad," Cassie said, opening the door to let herself and Rachel out.

"It was my pleasure, Cassie," Walter said, closing the door once the two girls were outside. "Call me when you want me to pick you up, okay?"

"Don't worry, we will!" Cassie waved to her dad as he drove off.

"C'mon Cass, we've got some serious shopping to do," Rachel said, taking Cassie by the arm and leading her toward the main entrance of the mall.

"Shopping, yay," Cassie said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.


	29. Secret Meeting

Cassie looked down at the bags she was carrying; they held the wide assortment of outfits that Rachel had bought for her. Not just clothing, mind you, actual _outfits_. Cassie would be the first to admit that she couldn't tell the difference between the two, and she didn't really care either way. But, these kinds of things made Rachel happy, and so Cassie dealt with it as best she could.

As the two of them were nearing the food court, Cassie saw that almost all of the Animorphs were sitting at a table, seemingly waiting for them to arrive. Even Ax was there, in his human morph, of course. The three of them were sharing french fries and hamburgers.

"Hey, what a surprise to see all of you here," Rachel said, pretending that their meeting hadn't been pre-arranged. Putting on an act for any Controller who might have been looking their way.

Cassie thought it was a bit unnecessary, after all, perfectly normal teenagers often made plans to get together at the mall. But then, Marco and Jake had both said on more than one occasion that it was best that no one knew that the five of them were friends, since they hadn't all been friends with each other when they were in school together.

"Yeah, we figured we'd stop off here for some snacks before we all head home," Jake said. "Why don't you guys join us?"

"We'd be glad to," Rachel said.

Cassie smiled, sitting down next to Rachel. Jake looked around, checking to see if anyone was standing close enough to overhear them. No one was.

"So, what happened to you two last night?" Jake asked in a low voice.

"There was a Yeerk infesting the horse Cassie and I were trying to take care of," Rachel said in the same low tone. "It crawled away, and the next thing we knew, some Yeerk ship was firing Dracon beams at us. The entire place caught on fire. Next thing I knew, we were both inside Crazy Helen's store."

"She mentioned some place called Area 51," Cassie said. "Do either of you know what she was talking about?"

Jake and Marco both raised their eyebrows, looking at Cassie as if she'd just sprouted a third arm.

"You've never heard of _Area 51_ before?" Marco asked, disbelieving. "It's like the Holy Grail for conspiracy nuts. Haven't you ever gone on the internet? The internet is full of people who think that the government keeps a bunch of aliens captive out there."

"I go on the 'Net," Rachel said, smirking at Marco. "I just don't hang out in chatrooms, call myself 'Studboy', and try to convince people that I'm an incredibly handsome thirty-five year old millionaire."

Marco rolled his eyes right back at Rachel. "Excuse _me_, but I don't use 'Studboy' as my chatroom screename. Give me _some_ credit. I use 'BaldwinBoyFive'. You know, the missing fifth Baldwin brother? The really cool-looking one."

"Even I know about Area 51," Jake said. "And, unlike Marco, I'm a fairly normal human being."

Miffed, Marco tossed a fry at Jake's head. The flying piece of food was neatly intercepted by Ax; the morphed Andalite popped the bit of food into his mouth and chewed with obvious relish.

"Mmmm, grease. Greassssss and salt!" Ax said, licking the rest of said flavor off his lips.

At that moment, another boy walked slowly toward the table where the five of them were sitting. The boy was dirty-blonde, but that wasn't the first thing that one would notice about him. The thing that was most likely to stick in one's mind after seeing this boy was the fact that he seemed very nervous being in the mall. He looked over his shoulder a lot, and whenever he looked directly at someone, the boy would squint as if he were nearsighted.

"Hey Tobias," Marco called out to the last member of their group to arrive. "We were thinking about ordering some pizza, d'you want mouse meat on yours?"

Tobias shook his head, rolling his eyes at Marco. "So, what's going on?"

"Rachel and Cassie went out to Area 51 last night and found horses making phone calls," Marco shrugged.

Tobias looked from Rachel, to Cassie, and then back to Marco. He raised an eyebrow. "Can someone please translate from Marco-babble into normal english?"

"I think I like you better as a chicken, Tobias," Marco said, giving the other boy a sidelong smirk.

"I'm a Red-Tailed Hawk," Tobias said, giving Marco a long-suffering look.

"Chicken, Pigeon, Hawk, what's the difference?" Marco asked with an offhanded shrug.

"How about we get down to business before someone interrupts us?" Jake cut in.


	30. Information

"Yes, _Dad_," Marco said lightly. Then he quickly became serious. "What we know is this: last night, there was some suspected Yeerk activity just outside the vicinity of Area 51. Whether or not it has anything to do with those weird plants we found out in the forest remains to be seen."

"No," Jake said, staring absently at a point on the table. "The Radam and the Yeerks don't have anything to do with each other. They wouldn't work together, anyway."

"Radam?" Cassie asked.

"Jake, what are you talking about?" Rachel asked.

Jake jerked his head up, suddenly realizing what he had just said. It wasn't that he wanted to keep this a secret from the rest of the group, it was just that he didn't know how to tell them without sounding crazy.

"It – it was just a dream I had," Jake said lamely.

__

Is that all I am to you, Jake? Something your subconscious mind conjured up?

Starfire. Jake looked around at the others; they were looking at him expectantly. "Did anyone else hear that?"

"Hear what?" Marco asked.

Jake took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. Apparently Starfire was only speaking to him. "Nothing."

"Okay, so what were you talking about earlier? What are the Radam?" Rachel asked.

"Not what, who," Jake corrected her. "The Radam are an alien race, like the Yeerks, but according to what Starfire told me, the Radam are a lot older than the Yeerks. More powerful too."

"Wait," Marco said. "Who's Starfire?"

Jake winced; this was _not_ going to be easy to explain. "Starfire was the Tekkaman who told me about the Radam."

"Two questions," Marco said. "When did you meet a Tekkaman? And, what _is_ a Tekkaman?"

"A Tekkaman is what the people who fight against the Radam call themselves. Slade is like a Tekkaman, but since he was made by the Radam, he'd be called a Teknoman."

"Okay," Marco said, still seeming a bit unconvinced. "You already told me about Slade, so how about we get back to our main objective before someone decides to come over here." The look Marco gave Jake said clearly _we'll talk about this in detail later_.

Jake nodded, and Rachel spoke up. "Yeerks in horses, it doesn't make any sense. What use would the Yeerks have for Horse-Controllers?"

"Do horses have some special powers? Pow-werz-zuh." Ax asked.

Cassie shrugged, recalling the things she had learned about horses. "They're herd animals. They're not very smart; in fact, they're pretty dumb. They're strong, but there are a lot of animals who are stronger. They're fast, but again, there are a lot of animals who are faster. Basically, I don't know why the Yeerks would be interested in taking horses for hosts."

"Maybe they think they can win lots of money in the Kentucky Derby," Rachel quipped.

"Maybe it's some kind of strange Yeerk entertainment," Jake suggested. "Maybe they think it's fun."

"I do not think that the Yeerks would do anything simply for entertainment value, Prince Jake," Ax said.

"Ax, I've told you before not to call me Prince, especially not in a public place."

"Yes Prince Jake. Jay-kuh."

"Are you two sure that what you saw last night was a Yeerk?" Jake asked Rachel and Cassie. "How do you know that it wasn't a slug or a snail, or something like that?"

"And what if Cassie's dad is right, and it _was_ just an exploding artillery shell you saw, and not a Dracon flash?" Tobias asked.

"We're not saying that we doubt you or anything," Jake rushed to assure them. "It's just that there's no real reason for the Yeerks to be infesting the bodies of horses."

Cassie looked to Rachel. "Well… we might have been wrong," Cassie said. "But I'm almost sure that what we saw last night had something to do with the Yeerks."

"Yeah, I agree," Rachel said.

"Okay, so what do we do?" Jake asked. "Do we take a look around the Dry lands? See if we can find anything that might be connected to the Yeerks?"

"There's some very good flying out there," Tobias said. "Lots of sweet thermals."

"And plenty of delicious snakes and toads?" Marco asked with mocking innocence.

"I won't be able to go tomorrow," Jake informed them. "It's my dad's birthday tomorrow. The whole family is going to go out to dinner to celebrate."

"Even Tom?" Rachel asked.

Jake deflated. "Tom _says_ he'll be there, but who knows." Every one of the Animorphs knew that Jake's older brother Tom was a Human-Controller, it was one of the things that made Jake so eager to continue the fight. "He spends a lot of time at meetings of The Sharing lately. Of course, that's all the more reason that I _have_ to be there tomorrow. Dad's not going to celebrate his birthday without at least one of his sons there."

"What did you get for your dad?" Cassie asked, wanting to find a way to distract Jake from his dark thoughts.

"I haven't done it yet," Jake said, grinning. "But I think I'm going to clean out the roof gutters for him."

Marco shuddered theatrically. "Actual physical labor? Couldn't you just pick him up a nice Hallmark card?"

"I am still kind of interested in what's going on out in the Dry Lands," Cassie said. "But, I think this could wait till the weekend."

"There may be something to all this," Jake said. "But, we don't need everyone to come along. So, who _does_ want to go flying with Cassie tomorrow after school?"


	31. Consensus

It was soon decided that Rachel, Tobias, and Marco would go along with Cassie the next day, after school was over. The six of them went their separate ways, not wanting any Controller who might have caught sight of them to start thinking of them as a group. Cassie and Rachel left together, as they had planned to do.

Borrowing a quarter from Rachel, Cassie called her father and told him that they were ready to leave. Picking up the bags filled with smaller bags, that were in turn filled with the clothes Rachel had bought for her, Cassie put the payphone's receiver back in its cradle and headed off to meet her father when he arrived.

"So, did you buy out the whole store?" Walter asked, once Cassie and Rachel were within earshot.

"Nothing like that, dad, but I still think Rachel went a bit overboard."

Rachel gave Cassie a friendly shove. "I did not. You _need_ all these clothes, to compensate for your complete lack of decent-looking outfits."

Cassie rolled her eyes, and Walter laughed heartily. The rest of the ride was filled with laughter and teasing, mostly directed at Rachel, but the blonde girl did manage to get in quite a few jibes of her own. Dropping Rachel off at home, Walter and Cassie spent the rest of the ride laughingly debating the possibility that people might not recognize her if she dressed in something that Rachel picked out.

Once they arrived at their house, Walter offered to carry Cassie's bags of new clothes up to her room for her. They ended up compromising, with Cassie carrying one bag and Walter carrying the other.

"Well Cass, I hope people can still tell you and Rachel apart when you wear these," Walter said, grinning.

"Yeah, dad, so do I." Cassie grinned at her dad; he could act almost like Marco when he put his mind to it.

Yawning, Cassie decided to put off hanging her new clothes in her closet until tomorrow. Pulling off her day clothes and dumping them in her hamper, Cassie pulled on a pair of pajamas and crawled into bed.

***

The next day began much like the last. Cassie kissed her mother goodbye and started to walk out the door, heading for the garage.

"That's a nice outfit you have on, Cassie," Aisha said.

"Thanks." Cassie spread her arms, adopting a pose Rachel often took when modeling outfits for her. "It's a fashion statement."

They both laughed, and Cassie blew her mom another kiss before heading out to the garage where her father was waiting with his truck. Hopping into the passenger seat, Cassie buckled herself in and waited for her dad to start the car.

Soon, the two of them were off, on the road leading to the school. When they arrived, and after her dad had found a place to park, Cassie unbuckled herself, kissed her dad on the cheek, and opened the passenger-side door so she could step out onto the curb.

"Bye dad, thanks for the ride. I'll meet you here after school."

Walter smiled. "Just think of it this way, Cass, there's only one more day of school left."

Cassie grinned. "That helps," she paused. "I was wondering if Rachel could come over after school today."

"Of course she can," Walter said. "You know that any of your friends are welcome to come over any time. I'll pick you both up after school."

"Thanks." Cassie closed the door, and waved to her father as he drove away.

Sighing, Cassie walked up to the school. _Dad's right, it's only one more day till the weekend._ This thought made Cassie feel a bit better. Reaching the door, Cassie wondered if people would even notice what she was wearing. Usually, Cassie knew that she was pretty much invisible to the majority of the kids at school.

Cassie didn't really mind, since she knew that she didn't have much – if anything – in common with them. Cassie made it to her locker without running into anyone, and found Rachel standing in front of her, leaning against her own locker. Rachel smiled at her best friend as Cassie walked up to her.

"Hey, Cass, it's good to see you wearing something besides those old rags you usually wear."

Cassie laughed. "Since it's pretty much your doing that got me these clothes, you'd _better_ be happy that I'm wearing them," Cassie teased.

Rachel and Cassie both laughed. Sobering, Rachel took Cassie by the shoulder and started to lead her away. "C'mon, Cassie, let's go show you off."

"Yeah, yeah, sure," Cassie grumbled half-heartedly, still grinning. "The human art-piece, that's me."

"Not an _art-piece_." Rachel rolled her eyes, resisting an urge to tweak Cassie's nose. "More like a fashion model."

Cassie shook her head in fond exasperation, but she didn't say anything else.

"C'mon Cassie smile, you look great."


	32. Following

One of their classmates, a red-haired boy named Charles, came walking up to them. He smiled shyly at Rachel.

"Hi Rachel," Charles said. "Oh, hi there, umm… Carla." Charles turned and scampered off, blushing when Rachel seemed to smile at him.

Rachel and Cassie kept walking. "See," Rachel said. "Charles smiled at you."

"He also called me Carla," Cassie said with a huff.

"Has he ever said anything to you before today?"

"Well, no," Cassie admitted.

"See?" Rachel asked smugly. "That's progress for you."

Cassie sighed. Another boy, this one who Cassie didn't know very well – she had at least known Charles as someone who passed her in the halls and sat in the same classes as she did. Cassie could vaguely remember that his name started with a J, but that was about it.

He had short black hair, light hazel eyes, and he was smiling at Rachel like she was the only woman on Earth.

"Hey Rachel, how's it going?" he asked.

"It's going well, Jawan," Rachel said offhandedly. "Jawan, you've met Cassie before, right?"

"Oh, sure" Jawan didn't really care who the short, stocky black girl standing on Rachel's right, all he really cared about was the fact that, for as long or as short as the time was going to be, Rachel was talking to him. Still, best to be polite. "Hey, Kendra, nice day isn't it? I'll see you in class, Rachel." Jawan waved good-bye and left.

"_Kendra_?" Cassie demanded, shooting Rachel a look of disbelief.

"He gave you a definite look," Rachel tried to reassure her. "So he's not very good at remembering names, there's no reason to hold that against him."

Cassie was a little less than convinced. "He seemed to remember _your _name very well."

Rachel didn't have anything to say to that, and the two of them kept walking. Another student, this time one that Cassie recognized as Joseph, from a horse-riding class that she had attended a few summers ago. Cassie remembered that he liked to be called 'Joe', so that was the name she addressed him by.

"Hey there, Cassie. Whoa, you look different today," he said, giving her a quick once-over.

"New outfit?" Rachel suggested helpfully.

Joseph shook his head, dismissing that suggestion. "No, it's not that. Although, now that you mention it, those clothes do look good on you. Cassie, you look like you've put on some more muscle. Have you been trying to bulk-up?"

Rachel reached out, pushing Joseph aside with one slender, elegant hand. Cassie sighed.

"That proves absolutely nothing," Rachel said, trying again to be reassuring.

Cassie didn't buy it. "Uh-huh, I look fatter."

"Some guys are idiots," Rachel said offhandedly.

"Not Jake."

"Jake is the exception that proves the rule," Rachel said, rolling her eyes at Cassie. Looking ahead, Rachel saw that the boy in question was walking up to them. Probably on his way to somewhere else, judging by his expression. "And look, here he comes now."

Jake was walking with some of his friends. They weren't members of the Animorphs, but that was why it was all the more important that he kept in contact with them. Jake knew that his entire life couldn't just be about being the leader of the Animorphs and fighting the Yeerks. He turned, and caught sight of Cassie and Rachel walking towards him.

"Hi Cassie, hey Rachel," Jake said, trying to sound like he was just passing by and didn't know the two of them very well. He didn't know if there were any Controllers nearby, but caution had kept him alive and free for this long, and Jake wasn't about to ignore it now.

"So?" Rachel asked, stepping backwards and gesturing to Cassie as if showing her off.

Jake blinked, not knowing what Rachel wanted, he didn't know how to respond. "So… what?"

"The outfit!" Rachel said, clearly exasperated that no one seemed to notice all the work she had put into picking her best friend's new clothes. "The outfit! The one that doesn't have dry, crusty bird-poop on it anywhere," Rachel huffed. "Doesn't she look great in it?"

Jake finally smiled, one of the rare slow smiles that Cassie so enjoyed seeing. "Of course she looks great, she always does. Have a good time in the Dry Lands this afternoon, and be careful, okay? I'll catch up to you guys in science class."

Jake walked away, leaving Cassie with a happy smile on her face, and a nice warm glow inside. Rachel, however, couldn't resist taking a shot at her best friend's un-admitted boyfriend.

"Okay, so he's an idiot too." Rachel grinned teasingly at Cassie.

  
Cassie responded in kind. "No, you were right the first time," Cassie smirked smugly. "Jake is the _exception_."

Rachel laughed, and it wasn't long before Cassie joined her. They started walking again, having stopped while they talked with Jake. The two of them soon stood at the door of their first-period class: History.

Cassie sighed, as was her usual reaction upon entering this classroom. Aside from the fact that History wasn't one of her favorite classes, the classroom itself was as stuffy and airless as a closet. The only thing one could see out of the classrooms only windows was the blank bricks of the gymnasium's wall.

Cassie and Rachel both took their seats, and Cassie tried to remember if she had done her homework last night. Cassie sighed, realizing that she _had_ in fact remembered her history assignment. Opening her binder, Cassie searched through the folders she kept inside. Cassie almost had it, when she was distracted by a very familiar voice.


	33. Cognizant Reality

"No! No way! It can't be!"

Marco. Cassie would know that voice anywhere. Cassie looked to her left, and saw Marco grinning at her from where he sat, two rows over. Without the slightest bit of hesitation, Marco vaulted over the single row of seats that separated them, and slithered into the empty desk next to Cassie. Marco was staring at her in wide-eyed wonder, a little too much wide-eyed wonder.

"Who is this vision of loveliness? Who is this fantasy come true? Excuse me, but are you Tyra Banks? No. No, you can't be any _mortal_ girl," Marco grinned teasingly at her. "So much perfection could never be achieved by any mere human. You're an angel descended from heaven!" Marco gasped a little too melodramatically. "I mean, they always say that clothes make the man, but those clothes make you an _angel_."

Cassie smiled indulgently, taking out her homework paper and placing it on her desk. "Are you finished?"

Marco gave her his famous 'considering' look, then he nodded. "Yeah, I think that should just about cover it."

"Good. Now, just how much did Rachel pay you to say all that?"

"Two bucks," Marco smirked. "Girls are such idiots sometimes. I'd have gladly done it for one."

Cassie shook her head, trying not to laugh. The teacher arrived then, and there was no more time for other things. The class was mostly one long lecture, like it was every other day. After she had turned in her homework, Cassie was pretty bored by the rest of the class. She took all the usual notes, of course, but as soon as class was over, Cassie was the first one out of her seat and ready to leave.

Cassie caught up with Rachel again in the hallway.

"I think I'm going to ask Slade if he wants to come along on this new mission." Cassie made sure to keep her voice down, but since the halls were always echoing with the sound of footsteps and the overlapping chatter of different half-heard conversations, she wasn't all that worried about being overheard.

"That sounds like a good idea," Rachel said, keeping her own voice down. "At least this way, I'll get a chance to meet him."

The two of them parted ways after that. Rachel continued on her way to chemistry class, and Cassie turned away to go to English class. English was only marginally more interesting to Cassie than History, and that was only because the teacher didn't have an annoying tendency to drone on and on.

Cassie tended to sit close to the back of the room, because this was where Jake liked to sit. Even as Cassie thought this, Jake walked through the door of the classroom and sat in his usual desk near the back of the classroom. Cassie stole a quick glance at Jake, before the teacher arrived, and then there was no more time for distractions.

Cassie took notes, the way she usually did in her classes, but at the same time she was wondering what Slade's reaction to this new Animorph mission would be. From the way he had acted around her earlier, Cassie got the feeling that he'd be more than willing to go with them.

English class ended, and Cassie managed to touch Jake's hand on her way out. Jake leaned close, so he could talk without shouting over the noise in the halls.

"Good luck out there, whatever you find."

"Thanks, Jake," Cassie said with a smile.

Jake blended into the crowd, heading for his next class of the day. Cassie headed for her locker to pick up the other books she would need. Once she had made that little detour, Cassie turned away from her locker, slammed it shut and click the combination lock back into place. Cassie's next class of the day was Art, one of her favorites.

As she made her way through the throngs of kids crowding the halls, Cassie unconsciously started looking around for one of the more recognizable faces in the crowd. Of course, it wasn't really Ryan's _face_ that stood out in the general mass of otherwise unremarkable students, it was his hair.

Ryan's hair was a bit over shoulder-length, and usually tied up in a neat ponytail, which would have attracted plenty of attention in the somewhat mainstream school that they both attended. But Ryan had gone that next step, dying his brown hair a deep purple. It was a strange thing to do, but Cassie had to admit that it went with the strange, slightly eccentric image that Ryan liked to project.

Cassie and Ryan had slipped out of contact lately, since Cassie's responsibilities as an Animorph had tended to take up a lot of her time of late. The only time she could really get a chance to interact with Ryan was in Art class, and that was usually only for a few minutes, before the teacher arrived.

Now, as Cassie looked around, she failed to spot the familiar head of purple hair. Cassie wasn't overly worried at this early stage, since she merely thought that Ryan had gotten to class before her. When Cassie finally did get into class, she again looked for the form of her closest non-Animorph friend.

When the teacher called roll and Ryan didn't answer, that was when Cassie started to get concerned. Cassie had never known Ryan to miss Art class, although Ryan _had_ asked her on occasion to take notes for a class like English or History so that he could space out – or, very rarely, sleep through – that particular class.

But Art was one of Ryan's favorite subjects, Cassie didn't know why he would suddenly decide to miss it. _Maybe he's just sick_, Cassie tried to reassure herself with this thought. Cassie didn't get to see Ryan as often as she would have liked, owing to her responsibilities as an Animorph, but she had no desire to just slip out of contact with him. Cassie saw Ryan as sort of an anchor to the world outside of the Animorphs' constant battle with the Yeerks.

__

I hope he's all right, Cassie mused, working on her sculpture. Once that class had come to an end, Cassie again joined the rush of kids that filled the halls. However, not one of them were heading for any of the classrooms. It was time for lunch.

Cassie decided not to sit down at her usual table, instead taking one next to the cafeteria's large windows. Plunking down her tray of what the school rather optimistically called food, and the rest of the student body called either slop or one of the less complimentary terms, Cassie stared out the window for a minute before huffing softly and turning to contemplate her meal.

"Is this seat taken?" asked a voice Cassie didn't recognize.

"What? No," Cassie looked up, watching as a pale girl with short-cropped black hair slid into the seat opposite her.

"I'm Karen." Karen cocked her head to the right, studying Cassie with intelligent dark blue eyes. "I like your outfit," she finally said.

"Thanks."

"That reminds me, Ryan Makenzie is one of your friends, isn't he?"

"We're not the closest, but yeah, I know him pretty well," Cassie nodded.

Karen looked down at her 'food' for a second, before turning back to Cassie. "Do you know where he is?"

Cassie shook her head. "He wasn't here today, but I just figured he was sick."

Karen's deep blue eyes seemed to stare right through Cassie, so intent was the other girl's focus. Karen's entire posture spoke volumes; she was worried. "That's just the thing, Ryan hasn't been _here_ for over four weeks now," Karen gripped the table tightly, steadying herself before going on. "All of his closest friends are missing, so I thought that you or one of his other not-so-close friends might be able to tell me where he is."

Cassie was starting to get a bit worried herself. "Who are his closest friends again? I think he told me once, but I've forgotten."

"Fritz Wallace, Devon Connor, Cindy Connor, and Ness, Cain, and Shara Carter."

Cassie had been nodding absently as Karen listed the names, dimly remembering that Ryan _had _told her about his other, closer friends at one time. When Cassie heard those last three names, though, she snapped back to attention. "Could you repeat those last three names?"

"Ness Carter, his twin brother Cain, and their younger sister, Shara. I don't know if he's that close to the youngest brother, but judging by the way Raven Carter acts, I don't think he _has_ any really close friends," Karen elucidated.

Cassie took a deep breath and let it out slowly, recalling the newspaper headline she had read only a few days ago. 

"Why did you ask me to repeat their names, anyway?"

"Oh," Cassie started, pulled out of her musings by Karen's sudden question. "No real reason."

Karen didn't look convinced, but she didn't press the subject. Lunch was almost over anyway, and so the two girls finished their food in silence. When Cassie got up to leave, Karen tapped her on the shoulder. Cassie turned to the other girl, wondering what she wanted to say.

"It was nice talking to you," Karen said, gently patting Cassie's left wrist.

"Yeah," Cassie nodded. "I hope you find what you're looking for," Cassie said, even though she knew that the chances of Karen finding Ryan were pretty low, if not nonexistent.

"Thanks. You will tell me if you hear from him, right?"

"You'll be the first person to know if I do," Cassie reassured her.

Karen nodded, smiling quickly and walking away. Cassie stowed her empty tray and dishes with the massive collection of other trays and dishes all waiting to be cleaned. Reasonably full, Cassie was quick to rejoin the crowd of various students in the halls. Her second-to-last class of the day was Geography, one that Cassie found utterly boring.

__

Well, look on the bright side, Cass, Cassie sighed to herself._ Only one more class after this one._ That thought cheered her up a little, but not all that well. Finding her seat, Cassie took out her notebook. Once the teacher arrived and started the lesson, Cassie busied herself with taking the notes that she would need to get through this class.


	34. Query

Her last class of the day was Math, something Cassie was very good at, but something she wasn't all that fond of. She didn't need to take notes for this class, since most of the work tended to focus on problem-solving of one kind or another. Cassie wasn't as proficient with the word problems as she was when she worked with the other types, but Cassie liked to think that she was learning to handle them rather well.

Once Math class was over and school was out for the week, Cassie breathed a deep and profound sigh of relief. _Two days off,_ Cassie smiled widely._ And, just as a bonus, I get to go flying today._

Rachel met up with Cassie at the curb that bordered the parking lot.

"Hey, Cass. Did you have a good day?" Rachel asked. It was the same question her friend asked at the end of every day.

Cassie gave Rachel her usual answer. "About as good as can be expected, but I'm really glad to be going home."

"Especially now that it's Friday?"

"Yeah," Cassie grinned. "Especially today."

Walter's truck pulled up then, and Cassie's father leaned across the passenger seat and unlocked the door for them. "Good afternoon girls, Walter's taxi service is now ready to depart," Walter said as he opened the door.

Rachel and Cassie both laughed. "Thanks for the ride, dad!"

"Any time, Cassie," Walter ruffled his daughter's hair as she and her best friend climbed aboard his truck. Rachel closed the door behind herself as she slid into the front seat beside Cassie. Rachel locked the door, and Walter started the engine. Not long after that, the three of them were on their way back to Cassie and Walter's home.

"So Cassie, how was your last day at school for two days?"

"Great, dad, but I'm still glad that today's Friday."

"Well _that_ goes without saying," Walter grinned. "_I'm_ glad it's Friday, and I haven't gone to school since college."

Walter drove off, while Cassie and Rachel sat back and enjoyed the ride. Soon enough, they were all at Cassie's house.

"Thanks for the ride, dad," Cassie waved to her father as the two of them exited the truck.

"Anytime, Cass. Hey, why don't you two have a snack before you start feeding the animals?" Walter stepped out as well, closing and locking the door behind himself.

"Nah, I had a big "lunch" at school," Cassie made quote marks in the air with her fingers. "I'm still sort of full from that."

"Not to mention disgusted by it," Rachel said.

Walter laughed. "C'mon, maybe the memory of some real food in your stomachs with help you forget that slop."

"Slop is too nice a word," Rachel said. "That stuff's more like industrial waste."

Cassie and Walter both laughed. "Nah, I think we'll get over it, eventually. Thanks for the offer, though, dad."

Cassie hugged her father, and Rachel waved to him as they walked into the barn. Closing the door behind them, Cassie went about feeding, watering, and cleaning the cages of the animals before the other Animorphs would arrive.

"So, I thought you were going to ask Slade if he wanted to come," Rachel said.

Cassie started. "What? Oh, I guess I forgot about that."


	35. Unthought of

Cassie put down the bucket of feed, and headed up the ladder that led to the hayloft. Slade was nowhere in sight, but at least two of the stacks of hay-bales were large enough to conceal him if he sat or crouched behind them. Cassie walked closer to the stack on her left, deciding to check behind it first.

However, as soon as Cassie was almost close enough to look behind the stack, something lashed out suddenly and grabbed her around the ankle. As she fell, Cassie thought she caught a glimpse of someone, just before she fell. But Cassie didn't hit the floor like she thought she would. Instead, Cassie found herself merely facing it. Someone had caught her before she could smack her face on the floor.

"I'm sorry," Slade said, gently setting Cassie on the ground.

"It's okay, Slade," Cassie said, sitting up and brushing herself off. "But, why did you try to trip me in the first place?"

Slade looked embarrassed. "I kinda fell asleep back there, after this big guy with dark skin came in. He was poking around for awhile and I didn't know who he was, so I hid. When you came up here, I thought you were him at first. I guess I panicked. Sorry about that again, Cassie."

"That's all right Slade," Cassie said with a friendly smile. "I guess that would be a bit unnerving for someone in your position. But the only adults that come in here are my mom and my dad, and mom doesn't come in here that often," Cassie paused, seeing that Slade was nodding in apparent understanding. "Anyway, I was wondering if you'd like to go flying with the rest of us."

"Who are 'the rest of us'?" Slade asked.

"Well, there's me, Rachel, and Tobias, and then there's Marco," Cassie counted off the names of the Animorphs that would be coming along on her fingers as she said them.

"That doesn't sound so bad," Slade said. "But, how would we be flying?" As he asked, Slade tried to shake off the feeling that he was asking a stupid question.

Cassie didn't seem to see it that way. "We'll just morph into the birds we've all acquired."

"Morph? Oh, right! You mean, you're going to teach me how to do that shape-shifting thing you guys did earlier." Slade looked confused for a moment, then excited.

"Yeah," Cassie smiled at Slade's unhidden enthusiasm. "I guess today's going to be your first time."

Slade grinned back. "I guess it is."

Slade stood up, helping Cassie to her feet and then brushing the hay off of his jeans. Following Cassie down the ladder, Slade took another look around the barn. Spotting Rachel, he tensed up for a minute, not knowing who the blonde girl was. Looking to Cassie, Slade saw that she seemed happy to see this new girl. _Must be one of her other friends, _Slade concluded.

"So this is Slade. He's kind of cute, I have to admit," Rachel said, looking Slade over. "I like the shirt, too."

"Thanks," Slade said. "I picked it out on a bit of a whim."

Cassie stifled a laugh, Rachel had just met Slade and already she had found something to like about him.

"So, does he have a morphing outfit yet?"

"A what?" Slade asked.

Cassie shook her head. _Yet another thing that I didn't think of,_ Cassie thought ruefully.

Rachel sighed. "Well, we're either going to have to find a way to carry his clothes along with us, or we're going to have to find something for him to wear."

"Why's that?" Slade asked.

"We can't take bulky things like clothes or tools along with us when we morph," Cassie explained. "It gets kind of annoying sometimes, but that's just the way the technology works."

"That seems kind of stupid," Slade said. It wasn't anything he could have explained to the two girls, but Slade got the feeling that if he had wanted to, he could somehow carry his clothes – or anything else he had wanted to for that matter – along with him when he morphed. Slade didn't mention this to either of them, since even _he_ wasn't sure it was true.

"Yeah, you have no idea how many times I've wanted to track down the Andalites who made this thing and give them a piece of my mind," Rachel said. "Wait here, we'll find something that you can wear."

Rachel and Cassie left, and Slade quickly scrambled back up the ladder to avoid being seen if Cassie's father or mother were to come in again.

Once they were outside, Rachel turned to Cassie. "So, how do we get up to your room without your dad delaying us?"

"_We_ don't. I'll go back and tell him that there's something in my room that I want to show you." As much as Cassie hated lying to her father, she still had no way of knowing whether or not her father was a Controller. "I think that one of those aerobic outfits you bought me last week might fit him, if only just."

"Good idea," Rachel conceded. "And hey, at least those are fashionable and color-coordinated."

Cassie sighed, rolling her eyes. "You _would_ be happy about that."


	36. Last of the Animorphs

Rachel laughed. "Go on Cass, I'll wait for you in the barn." With those words, Rachel turned and walked back into the barn. Once she was back inside, Rachel climbed up the ladder the way Cassie had earlier.

At the top, Rachel looked around. Not seeing Slade anywhere, Rachel started searching for him. Rachel shivered slightly as she felt something like a cold wind pass through her mind, then she saw Slade stick his head out from behind a bale of hay.

"Hi," he said. "You're Rachel, right?"

"Yeah, that's who I am," Rachel smiled. Then her expression turned curious, even concerned. "Did you feel that weird, whatever-it-was that just passed through here just now?"

"The what?" Slade asked, then his eyes unfocused slightly for just a moment, and Rachel felt that same strange momentary coldness passing through her mind that she'd felt just a few minutes ago. "Oh, you meant _that_," he said, nodding with apparent unconcern. "That was kind of my fault."

"How was that your fault?" Rachel demanded, looking at Slade like he'd just said something impossible. As far as Rachel was concerned, he had.

__

I'm… well I guess you'd call it… my telepathy. Slade said.

To Rachel, it felt as if Slade had somehow painlessly opened her skull and spoke directly into her brain. Adding to the creepiness factor was the way Slade's eyes glowed a bright emerald-white all through the time he was talking. Rachel also thought she could just make out a small, indistinct dot of green-white light flickering on Slade's forehead, but his eyes were what held her attention.

Rachel took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. After she felt calm enough, she answered. "Oh, so that's what you call it." It was a little disconcerting at first, to be sure, but Rachel had had a lot of on the job training in dealing with weirdness.

A few seconds later, Rachel and Slade both heard the distinct flapping of wings that meant a bird was coming into the barn. Both of them looked up at the same time, just as two birds-of-prey swooped and circled their way into the main area of the barn. One was an Osprey, the other a Red-Tailed Hawk. Marco and Tobias.

Oh, there you are, Tobias said calmly, evidently having spotted them on the edge of the hayloft.

The Red-Tailed Hawk and the Osprey landed in front of Slade and Rachel, and one of them started changing in the same way that Jake had done so many days ago. Slade thought at first that this was him, and was about to ask Jake why he'd went through all the trouble of acquiring a new bird morph when he had a perfectly good one already. But this new bird… this new bird was changing into something subtly different.

Whereas Jake had been nearly as tall as Slade himself, this new boy's height seemed to be leveling out somewhere near the lower part of Slade's shoulders. Whereas Jake had had a fairly pale complexion, this new boy's skin was almost halfway as dark as Cassie's. Whereas Jake's hair had been lightish brown, this new boy's hair was almost as black as Slade's own.

Once the new boy was completely demorphed, Slade got quickly to his feet, drawing himself up to his rather impressive height of just over six feet. He didn't know who this new comer was, but since he had the same power that Jake, Cassie, and Slade suspected Rachel shared, Slade felt that he could at least give him the benefit of the doubt. "So, who're you?" Slade asked in a neutral voice.

"I'm Bart Simpson, who the hell are you?" the smaller boy said in a falsely nasal voice.

"Marco, don't confuse him," Rachel said, standing up next to Slade.

"Sorry," Marco grinned smugly. "I just couldn't help myself."

Slade huffed, rolling his eyes at Marco's antics. Sure, in a weird kind of way it was funny, but it was also kind of annoying that this Marco guy reminded him of someone. Like Cassie had reminded him of someone. Slade sighed, sitting back down. That was when Cassie came back into the barn. She was carrying something, but Slade wasn't really sure what.

She climbed back into the hayloft, and Slade, Marco, and Rachel all stood back up and moved out of her way. Once Cassie was back in the hayloft, she handed Slade what she had been carrying. It was another bundle of clothes. Slade gave Cassie a questioning look.

"And… these are for… what, exactly?" Slade asked, since he was already wearing a perfectly good set of clothes.

"This is your new morphing outfit, Slade," Cassie said. "Rachel already told you how we can't take bulky things like normal clothes along when we morph, right? Well, this is what we've figured out how to do instead. You just put these on under your clothes, and they'll somehow come with you when you morph."

"Oh. Okay," Slade unfolded the second bundle of clothes that Cassie had given him. Slade couldn't help feeling like this was déjà vu all over again. _At least these look a lot better than the last set._ The shirt was solid white, and looked like one of those spandex things that people used when they were racing bikes. The pants, or rather shortened leggings, were a dark enough blue that they could be mistaken for black if someone didn't look close enough.


	37. Items

All in all, it wasn't that bad looking. Slade ducked back behind one of the larger stacks of hay bales and proceeded to change into the outfit that Cassie had given him. Once he had it on, Slade put his clothes back on over it.

"I think we should go back to the main floor of the barn before we start morphing," Cassie said, already starting back down the ladder.

"Why?" Rachel asked, turning around and heading down the ladder.

"I just think it would be easier for us to morph if we're not all crowded together in the hayloft," Cassie explained, already halfway down the ladder.

"Okay," Marco said, waiting for Rachel to get far enough down the ladder so that he could climb down without stepping on her hands. "That sounds like a good idea."

Slade came out to the edge of the hayloft floor, watching as Marco and Rachel climbed down the ladder. Actually, Rachel had already gotten off, and Marco was now far enough down the ladder that Slade could safely start his own descent. As he did this, Slade couldn't help wondering what this morphing thing would feel like. Would it hurt? Slade knew that that was pretty unlikely, given the fact that morphing didn't seem to have any adverse effects on Cassie, Rachel or Marco. But then, maybe they were just used to it.

Slade would have shrugged, if he hadn't been climbing down the ladder himself. If they were used to morphing by now, then it was just something he would have to adapt to. Once he was back on solid ground, Slade was quick to join up with the other Animorphs.

"Now what do we do?" Slade asked Cassie.

"Hold on for a minute, Slade," Cassie turned to look up at the rafters, where Tobias was now perched, looking out for trouble. "Tobias, are we all clear yet?"

Yeah, we're all clear. Your mom just went into the house carrying a couple bags of groceries, and your dad's truck is just pulling away from the intersection leading to the Exxon station. He'll be long gone before we come out.

"All right then," Marco said, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. "Let's get started, boys and girls." Marco quickly shed his outer clothes and stood in his morphing outfit.

"Again I have to ask," Slade said, as he too started to remove his somewhat bulky outfit. "How do I do this?"

"All you have to do," Rachel explained, since she had already gotten out of her day clothes, rolling them up inside the backpack that she had had the foresight to bring. "Is concentrate on the animal that you want to morph. Form a picture of it in your mind. Block everything else out, and focus on that." Rachel turned to Cassie. "You _did_ set him up with a bird morph of some kind, right Cass?"

"Yeah," Cassie smiled at Slade. "He chose a raven, for some reason."

"A raven?" Marco raised an eyebrow. "You have a thing for Edgar Allan Poe or something?" Slade softly cuffed Marco on the back of his head. "Oww! What was _that_ for? It was only a harmless question."

"Right, whatever," Slade muttered, already beginning to concentrate on the image of the raven that he had formed in his mind.


	38. First Morph

The first thing Slade noticed was that his fingers were starting to tingle. _Forget tingling, they're outright _itching_!_ Slade opened his eyes, lifting his hands to his face so that he could take a look at them.

What Slade saw there nearly broke his concentration: there were several long, black feathers growing right out of his fingertips. More feathers were also starting to grow in-between Slade's fingers. Slade looked around at the others, wondering if he should ask one of the others if this was the normal procedure. Cassie seemed to be morphing from the legs up, Rachel was already starting to grow feathers, but Marco's morph didn't seem to have started yet.

"She's got le-gs, she knows how to use them!" Marco singsonged.

Slade rolled his eyes._ Weirdo._ Closing his eyes, Slade concentrated harder on the image of the raven he was morphing. Once he did this, the changes came faster than ever. Slade could feel his teeth fusing together and forcing themselves outward to form the raven's relatively long beak. Because he still had his eyes closed, Slade didn't see the floor of the barn rushing up to meet him as he shrank down to raven size. He did feel a very odd sensation of falling, though.

  
We'd better get a move on, Tobias said. We want to be well clear of this place before Cassie's mom comes in, if she does decide to come in.

Slade opened his eyes, looking at the small collection of birds-of-prey standing around in the barn. Slade then took a look at what had been his left arm; there was now no trace that it had ever been a human appendage at all. _This is really, really weird._

Yeah, Slade heard Marco's distinctive thought-speak voce commenting. We look like we're here to break into the cages and bust all the other birds outta here.

__

Huh? What is_ that guy going on about?_ Slade wondered to himself. Sudden movement drew his attention then, and Slade looked over to his right to see who had caused it. It was Cassie, spreading out her wings and preparing to fly. Slade noticed then that Cassie and Marco had chosen the exact same bird to morph.

I'm ready to fly, Cassie said. Rachel? Marco? Slade?

All of us are ready to go, it looks like, Rachel said, looking around at the other four Animorphs even as her eyes changed from her normal blue to the dark gold of the Eagle's own.

Let's fly, Cassie said.

The others all started flapping hard, and Slade took his cue from the rest of them. The four of them circled to gain altitude in the closed-in barn. Soon, the four of them had reached the rafters, where Tobias had been acting as a lookout. They took a moment to admire their new raptor vision. For Slade, this was an entirely new experience.

Slade might have had better-than-human vision, but his was mostly geared towards enhanced clarity, seeing in the dark, and picking up subtle movements. Seeing through the eyes of his raven morph was like looking through a pair of high-grade telescopes.

All right, Rachel said, after about three minutes of just staring out the open hayloft window, enjoying the Eagle's superior vision. Let's get going, shall we?


	39. Transit Time

All five Animorphs opened their wings and let go of the rafters, gliding out through the open window, then letting the slight breeze blowing outside bear them up. Of course, they still had to work hard for every bit of altitude they gained, since there were no convenient thermals near the barn for them to hitch a ride on.

As he flew, Slade started to notice the other mind that seemed to reside in his head. Prodding it gently with his telepathic powers, Slade found that this was the mind of the raven he had morphed. _It seems to know what it's doing,_ Slade thought to himself._ I might as well let it fly, since that seems to be all it wants to do right now._ Relaxing his control a bit, Slade let the raven take care of the mechanical aspects of his flight.

This way, Slade heard Tobias call out, watching as the hawk turned east. See over there, off a ways to the east? Notice how all the clouds are piled up over there, and that slight ripple in the air?

Yes, I see them, Cassie said. Is that a thermal, Tobias?

A serious thermal, the hawk replied, sounding exited, despite all the time he'd spent as a bird. We'll be able to ride that a mile straight up!

Inwardly, Cassie smiled, glad to see that Tobias could enjoy something that was probably more routine to him than she would ever know. Even with the distance that the five of them were forced to keep between themselves, owing to the fact that none of their morphs would flock together naturally, they were still able to keep up with each other and head in the same direction.

Half a mile ahead of them was the thermal that Tobias had spotted. Slade didn't know why the others were so eager to get into the airspace that was occupied by those strangely shimmering clouds, but the raven mind that was sharing space with his own seemed to be just as anxious to get there as the other Animorphs, and since Slade's wings were now starting to ache, he decided not to ask any questions.

Without the slightest hint of warning, the Animorphs were suddenly inside the pillar of warm air that made up the thermal. All of them opened their wings, Slade following the lead of the others a few seconds after. The warm winds bore them up almost without effort, although they still had to flap their wings sometimes.

Hah-hah! Oh man, I love this! Rachel exulted, soaring with the aid of her Eagle morph's broad wings. I love this, I love this, I _love_ this! Yeeeee-haaaaaa!

So you're saying that you love this? Marco asked teasingly.

Damn, this is so… so _easy_! Slade opened his wings, and almost immediately went shooting straight upward, laughing all the way.

As the five of them circled even higher, all of the structures on the ground diminished to practically nothing. But even as everything on the ground fell away, if any of them had looked down, they could still have seen every detail of the land beneath them.

Look! Tobias said suddenly, drawing the attention of all the others. It's a flight of geese, up ahead a ways.

Indeed, there were about ten of the large waterfowl. They were heading in the same general direction as the Animorphs, but they were moving at a steadier rate than the five morphed humans.

Let's go catch them! Cassie exulted, reveling in the speed and power of her Osprey's body.

Yeah, right, Tobias laughed. See the way they fly? They're like machines; they never stop flapping. They can travel hundreds of miles. Have you ever watched a dog trying to catch a passing car? That's what it would be like, us trying to catch those geese.

As it turned out, Tobias was right. The flock kept pace with the five Animorphs for only a few minutes before quickly moving on to their unknown destination. It didn't take long for the entire flock to move out to the edge of even the Animorphs' raptor vision.

How long until we get to the Dry Lands? Rachel asked, flapping her massive wings.

A long time, but we're getting good altitude, Tobias said. That'll help.

This'll be so cool! Marco exulted. Area 51! We're going to penetrate the very _heart_ of the government's conspiracy to cover up alien visitors!

Marco, just how big of an idiot are you? Rachel asked, sighing silently in exasperation. We've seen _real _aliens. We know that they look absolutely nothing like those stupid pictures that you see inside all the lame books that are supposedly about them. We know that the real aliens, the Yeerks, don't go around kidnapping backwoods goobers and experimenting on them.

The Radam might, Marco pointed out, snickering slightly. But c'mon, maybe there are more than just these two groups of aliens. Maybe there are the ones who crash-landed out here back in the fifties, then the Yeerks and the Radam more recently.

Sure there are, Agent Mulder, Rachel huffed sarcastically. Earth just _happens_ to be the crossroads of every passing alien. We're the great, universal Macdonald's by the side of the road.


	40. Air travel

Slade laughed, Cassie sighed, and Tobias simply tuned out the conversation. After about ten minutes, Cassie did likewise. There was a nice, serene kind of silence when you were a mile off the ground. Unbroken, except for the very occasional passing jet engine five miles or more above their heads. It wasn't total silence by anyone's standards though, not with the wind rushing over their wings, and the flapping of those wings.

The five of them used the altitude they gained from the first thermal to glide into another one, quite a bit farther on from where they had first started. But then, that was the entire point. As the five Animorphs circled and soared within the rising column of hot air, there was no conversation between them, even Marco and Rachel laid off their argument, instead preferring to watch the clouds as they drifted by.

Gliding from near the top of one thermal then falling slowly through the cooler air, only to enter the bottom of another thermal and start the cycle over again. After about thirty-five minutes, Cassie noticed that the houses below them were starting to thin out. The roads became thinner and less well-kept, the few gas stations were now spread out over several miles, and Cassie was starting to see some flocks of sheep and herds of cattle down below.

After twenty more minutes, even the scattered herds of livestock thinned down to nothing, and the last of the small stores were left far behind. Now they were flying over more bare scrubland, which was clearly divided from the rest of the bare scrubland by the rather tall and menacing fence topped with thick, sharp strands of razor-wire. The five Animorphs had now reached the first edge of the Air Force base known as Area 51, The Most Secret Place on Earth.

Hey, Tobias said, drawing the attention of his five companions. Look at that sign, the one down there by the dirt road.

They turned to look at the sign Tobias had spotted. This is what it said:

****

STOP!

GOVERNMENT PROPERTY. RESTRICTED AREA.

AUTHOURIZED PERSONEL ONLY BEYOND THIS POINT.

ALL OTHERS ARE SUBJECT TO ARREST AND

PROSECUTION. THIS MEANS YOU.

I'm guessing this is the beginning of the famous Area 51, Cassie said, her voice nearly overflowing with wry humor.

A real friendly bunch down there, aren't they? Rachel asked the group at large.

You'd be pretty hostile too, if you were part of a vast government conspiracy that was trying to cover up an alien spacecraft, Marco said.

None of the Animorphs who knew him were quite sure if Marco was joking, and Slade of course didn't know enough about any of them to respond in a way that he could be reasonably sure wouldn't offend them. Despite Marco's rather unnerving familiarity to him, Slade didn't want to make an enemy out of someone he was just getting to know. So he kept silent, and the five of them continued flying over Area 51.

All of the Animorphs present agreed on one rather obvious fact: Area 51 was ugly. The base was a rather unimaginative collection of squat gray-and-black installations that looked like they had been built back in the early 40's. There were some extremely large aircraft hangars lined up on the inner-edge of the base, as well as a scattering of heavy-duty vehicles: Jeeps, Humvees, and even a few tanks.

The most interesting thing, for Slade at least, was the fact that various small groups of wild horses were wandering freely throughout the base.

Marco, Rachel said. I know a lady you'd love. People call her Crazy Helen. Crazy, because she sounds just like you.

Let's start looking for those horses, Cassie suggested. I think that that would be a good place to start.

We're looking for horses? Slade asked, sounding more than a little disbelieving. There were, after all, a lot of horses milling around seemingly aimlessly inside the base itself.

We're looking for Yeerk-infested horses, Slade, Tobias clarified, sounding a bit doubtful about the whole thing. Horse-Controllers.

Rachel, of course, was the first to react to Tobias' statement. We _did_ see a Yeerk come out of that horse we were taking care of, she said, defending herself and Cassie.

And we _did_ almost get killed by a Dracon beam, Cassie said, sounding a bit miffed herself.

You didn't actually see the Bug fighter that fired at you, Tobias reminded them. And with human eyes, how could you tell if it was a Yeerk you saw, and not just a plain old, everyday snail?

I can't believe that _you_ of all people don't believe us Tobias, Rachel muttered.

Slade looked from Tobias to Rachel and back again, wondering who he should back up. On the one hand, Slade didn't really think that tracking down a bunch of wild horses was really all that important, but on the other hand, Cassie had told him about the enemies that the Animorphs were fighting. They _were_ called Yeerks: alien slugs about the size of a rat that could somehow crawl inside a person's head and take control of their mind.

Slade didn't know if these Yeerks were telepathic or not, but they sounded dangerous. Finally, Slade made his decision.

I'm not saying that I don't believe you, Tobias defended himself. I'm just saying that there's no real reason. Why would the Yeerks want to infest some skanky old wild horses?

Does the reasoning behind it really matter? Slade asked. The point is that they are, and so we have to stop them.

Thanks for backing me up, Slade, Cassie said. And Tobias, I know it's a bit hard to believe, but I know what I saw.

There! Rachel called suddenly. There's a group of horses down by that that watering hole. Maybe that could be them.

The five Animorphs banked left, circling around to better see the gathering, and Cassie looked down at the group of horses that Rachel had spotted. There were six mares, two rather gangly-looking colts, and a single large stallion that was standing a ways apart from the main bunch. The stallion was acting as a sentry, the way any normal stallion would.

No, that can't be them, Cassie decided.

How do you know? Tobias asked.

Because those horses are acting just like normal horses, and the stallion is acting like any normal stallion. The horses we want probably won't be acting normal, Cassie explained.


	41. Unplanned Infiltration

Okay, Tobias said, accepting that conclusion. Well, you guys are almost at the end of the two-hour limit. You'll need to demorph now. I saw a big pile of rocks, you'll be able to have some shade and privacy there.

They flew toward the pile of boulders, circling downward then fluttering gently to the ground. The area _was_ nice and secluded, and well shaded by a rather large tree. The only problem was that this particular nice, secluded area was on the inside of the fence, a part of the infamous Area 51.

Once they had landed, four of the five Animorphs started demorphing. There was a thick layer of nice, soft, warm sand beneath them, which all of them were glad about since they didn't have any shoes. The sandpit was surrounded on all sides by large, jagged rocks, with no apparent way for anyone to get into the middle where the Animorphs now stood. This would eventually prove to be both an asset and a disadvantage.

Dressed only in their rather skimpy morphing outfits, the five Animorphs looked around at the sandpit where they were relaxing for the moment. A warm, softly keening wind blew over the rocks, pushing around the loose grains of sand and catching up the hair of the four humans.

"All we need now is a picnic lunch," Marco commented. "Tobias! Why don't you rustle us up some nice, juicy rats and toads?"

No need, the hawk replied calmly. Just eat that snake you're sitting on.

"Yaaaaahhhhh!" Marco shot to his feet in half an instant, churning up the sand and slapping frantically at his backside and upper-thighs.

Slade bit his tongue with the effort not to laugh. He couldn't help it, Marco just looked so hilarious. Out of the corner of his eye, Slade caught sight of a small, black snake slithering away from where Marco had been sitting.

"I'm bit! I'm gonna die! A rattler bit my butt!" Marco shouted, panicking and hopping around crazily.

It wasn't a rattlesnake, and it didn't bite you, Tobias said calmly. It was just a harmless bull snake.

"No snake is harmless," Marco muttered darkly. Raising his voice, Marco turned to look at Tobias. "You _will_ keep your hawk eyes open though, right? You know, just in case a rattler does come for me?"

I will protect your butt from snake bite, Marco, Tobias said, sounding oddly solemn for making such a ridiculous-sounding statement.

"Let's just morph back now," Rachel suggested. "We don't really need to rest, I feel fine."

"There's no real rush, is there?" Cassie asked, not wanting to get back in the air so soon.

All of the Animorphs present, excluding Slade of course, knew that it was better for them if they were able to rest for a time between morphs. The four of them had indeed been in situations where they had not been able to take the necessary rest period, and they had all suffered for it to varying degrees. The process of morphing was a tiring one, requiring intense concentration and focus.

"No," Rachel said. "There's no hurry."

The keening wind blew through Rachel's hair as she stretched, causing the golden strands to shimmer in the late-afternoon light. Slade tried to make himself relax; but he kept hearing a sound, like soft footsteps closing in around them. None of his new allies seemed to be concerned in the least about this, and so Slade tried to calm himself down. Paranoia wouldn't do anyone any good.

"This is like one of those old Westerns," Rachel said, looking around at the Animorphs' impromptu hiding place. "The good guys are all up in the rocks hiding from the bad guys," she chuckled. "All we need now are six-guns and rifles."

As if on cue, eight men with automatic rifles came suddenly into the sandpit, weapons trained on the four of them. Two rifles each were aimed at the occupants of the sandpit; one aimed at their heads and the other aimed at their chests. Slade silently cursed himself for not telling his allies about the sounds he had been hearing, they might have been ready for this if he had.

"Okay now, here's what we're going to do," the lead soldier said, standing up and putting his hands on his hips. Under his breath, Slade hissed at him. "The four of you are gonna lay down, facedown in the sand, and place your hands behind your heads, fingers laced together."

For a moment, Cassie wondered about the soldier's choice of words. _Four of us, but… Oh! He thinks Tobias is just a hawk!_ Cassie realized.

"But we weren't _doing_ anything," Rachel protested, reminding Cassie of those times several years ago when Rachel would dig through her mother's closet looking for clothes to try on. Rachel's tone here was almost the same as it had been all those years ago when she would argue with her mother.

"You have illegally entered a restricted government facility. And you are in a world of hurt," the man said, looking them over with hard eyes. "Sergeant! Search them for weapons or contraband. And someone chase away that big old hawk," the man snapped. "He's staring at me."

"Yes sir, Lieutenant," another man, evidently the aforementioned Sergeant, answered quickly.

You guys, just go along with them, Tobias said, as one of the other soldiers came after him. Tobias flew off, but not without a bit of parting advice to his friends. I'll keep an eye out for you. Just play dumb.

"You heard him, Marco," Rachel whispered, winking at her often-sarcastic comrade. "Just be yourself."

Rachel considered it her task to keep up the morale of her fellow Animorphs by giving them someone to look up to, someone who showed little or no fear in the face of overwhelming odds. However, although she would never tell anyone, Rachel sometimes found that she was losing herself to the role she had chosen.

The rest of the strike force quickly jumped down from their position on the rocks. The four Animorphs quickly lay stomach-down in the sand, lacing their fingers together and placing their hands behind their heads.

Face almost in the sand, Slade gritted his teeth. He knew that he couldn't attack the enemy who had come into their hiding place so suddenly, not without putting his allies in unacceptable danger. True, they possessed their shapeshifting ability, and they probably could change into some pretty dangerous animals, but that didn't change the fact that they would be almost helpless while they were shifting from one form to the next.

The search that had been ordered was over almost instantly, since none of the Animorphs were wearing anything other than their morphing outfits. After the last of them had been checked over, which incidentally had been Slade who had had to restrain himself from punching in the face the soldier who had been searching him, the soldiers returned to their Lieutenant to make their report.

"Nothing of interest was found, sir," one of the others stated.

"All right." With a sharp nod the Lieutenant dismissed his man. Turning back to the four teenagers lying in the sand, he barked out an order. "All of you, on your feet! Put on your shoes and let's move out!"

"No shoes, sir," the Sergeant reported.


	42. Guile and Deceptions

Cassie winced, knowing that she would never be able to explain their presence at this base without going into detail about things that couldn't be talked about with outsiders. And then there was the matter of the shoes, which couldn't be taken along on a morph, but would have been essential for crossing the broken terrain that lay in all directions between this base and the surrounding areas.

"Hey," the Lieutenant frowned deeply. "Wait a minute. It's a couple of miles back to the road. How'd you get all the way out here without shoes? For that matter, there hasn't been a car down that road all day. How'd you get out here at all?"

Sitting back up, Cassie looked to Rachel. Rachel and Slade both turned to Marco. Marco, with his affinity for fast-talk and for telling wild stories that no one would believe, grinned widely while the rest of the Animorphs, himself included, turned over and settled themselves comfortably in the sand. "It was the Martians, sir. We were dropped here by aliens."

The collective reaction of both the soldiers and the other Animorphs could be effectively summed up in one word: _What?!_

The Lieutenant narrowed his eyes. "I don't like being toyed with, son. Now, I'm going to ask you again: just how did you get all the way out here with no shoes and no sign of a car or other vehicle?"

Marco rolled his eyes with exaggerated impatience. In the tone of someone who was trying to convince a stubborn four-year-old that the sky was blue instead of green, Marco reiterated. "I already told you, dipstick, we were dropped here by a flying saucer."

Losing the last shreds of his patience, the Lieutenant clenched and unclenched his fists. "All right, all of you! Up! Now!" he snapped.

Their reaction was not what the Lieutenant had been hoping for, but it was pretty much what he had expected. The Hispanic kid who had been the last to speak just sat there, an irritating smirk already making its way back onto his face. The black girl and the blonde girl looked at each other, shrugged, and sat back against the rocks. But it was the tall, green-eyed boy with longish black hair that held the Lieutenant's attention. He was leaning back against the rocks like the others, but he was also glaring with open defiance at the soldiers still surrounding them, as if daring them to do anything. _This one's going to be trouble_, the Lieutenant thought.

Slade was trying to keep calm, he really was, but the fact that he was surrounded by enemies wasn't helping his efforts in the least. Everything he was screamed at him to stand up, to _fight_, but another instinct resisted the impulse. His allies were in a more vulnerable position than he was, and Slade knew that he had to protect them. _I'll wait,_ he thought, with an especially hard glare at the obvious leader._ But this isn't over, count on it._

"All right you kids, enough stalling," the Lieutenant said, deciding to deal with the green-eyed kid only if he made trouble. "Let's get moving."

"Sir? Permission to speak freely?"

"Speak," the Lieutenant ordered.

"There is really no way that these kids are going to make it over this kind of terrain without any footwear, sir."

The Lieutenant huffed. "All right, carry them to the base if you have to," he snapped.

The other soldiers were quick about rounding up the small group of teenagers. The green-eyed kid looked like he was going to fight them for a minute, but a simple look from the black girl calmed him down. _That was strange,_ the Lieutenant thought. He'd figured that the kid would have to be either knocked out or forcibly subdued._ Well, I'm certainly not going to look a gift horse in the mouth,_ he decided, signaling his troops to move out.

It was a long, quiet march back to the base. Not one of the kids seemed interested in talking, not even the smirking Hispanic kid. They were hiding something, that much was patently obvious, but _what_? That was the problem, since none of them seemed at all eager to talk about what they had been doing inside an isolated government facility, with no shoes and no apparent way of getting anywhere near the facility itself.

Once the twelve of them were inside the base, the soldiers quickly seated the four teenagers in some of the ubiquitous folding-chairs that they had found in a storage area. The Lieutenant sighed, turning away from the four teens. He would have a lot of explaining to do.

***

They had been sitting in this bright, cramped, airless room for what had seemed like hours, and Slade was getting antsy. Finally, when Slade was sure that he would go stir-crazy from all the waiting, _someone_ chose that moment to walk into the room.

"My name is Captain Lance Torrelli. I am in charge of security at this facility."

There were no windows in the room that the Animorphs had been shut in, but, every so-often the door would open and a well-armed man wearing an Air Force uniform would walk past. But, this was the first time anyone had actually come inside. Cassie and the other Animorphs looked over at Captain Torrelli once he had made this statement. Cassie had been studying a bulletin board that hung on the left wall.

There was a flyer for The Gardens tacked to the board, and below it was a sign-up sheet that had quite a few names on it._ That reminds me,_ Cassie mused._ Slade doesn't have a combat morph yet. I'd better take him to The Gardens soon so he can acquire one._

As usual, Marco was the one who started the conversation. "Hi, Captain. How are things in The Most Secret Place on Earth?"

The lieutenant that had initially brought the Animorphs into Area 51 was still present in the room with them. When Captain Torrelli looked to him, he shrugged.

"Now, maybe you kids don't realize it, but you're in a lot of trouble now," Captain Torrelli said.

"Yes, sir. We realize we've made a mistake," Cassie said in her best 'I know we were wrong and I'm very, very sorry' voice. "It was a complete mistake. We didn't even _know_ there was anything out this far in the Dry Lands. But if you let us go, I promise that we'll never come back here again."

Cassie smiled innocently, nudging Rachel so she would do the same. Slade took his cue from the rest of them, calming himself down and giving this newcomer his best smile. Cassie was hoping that Marco would go along with the act, too. But Marco, with his agile mind, already knew that trying to get out of this situation would require something other than innocent looks and some sweet-sounding words.

"So. Where do you guys keep the aliens?" Marco asked.

It took a supreme effort of will for Cassie not to wince. So much for Marco getting a clue.

"Look kid, this is an Air Force installation. I'm not authorized to talk about what we do here," Captain Torrelli said, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes at Marco. "But I can tell you this much: There are no aliens here!"

"Yeah right, sir," Marco said, rolling his eyes. _Annoy him, get under his skin, _Marco strategized. _Maybe I can make him think we're just a bunch of nuts who were in the wrong place at the wrong time._

"What is your name, son?" Captain Torrelli demanded.

Marco thought fast, something he was well-known for doing. "Mulder. My name is Fox Mulder."

"Sir? Please, just ignore Mar- I mean, Fox," Cassie pleaded.

"He's an idiot," Rachel put in.

"No, he just likes to annoy people," Cassie said. "We're really sorry about what we did. If you'll just give us a warning, we'll get out of your way."

"A very stern warning, even," Rachel agreed.

"Normally, we would do just that. We, unfortunately, get our share of nutjobs and crackpots out here," Captain Torrelli informed them, looking hard at Marco as he said the word 'crackpots'. "But here's the problem we have: none of you kids are wearing shoes. And, I had my Lieutenant's men check the surrounding area just in case. There was nothing but dry grass, thorns, and rocks. It is not physically possible for anyone to cross that kind of rough terrain barefoot."

"So, we're basically in huge trouble just for not wearing shoes?" Rachel asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Look, sir, what's with all the secrecy?" Marco asked. "If you have an alien here, why not just tell everyone?"

Captain Torrelli glared hard at Marco, and Marco knew that his strategy was starting to pay off. "I want the four of you to write down your names and your home phone-numbers on this sheet of paper. We'll see if your parents can properly appreciate your sense of humor."

Captain Torrelli handed Marco a blank sheet of white paper. Marco quickly wrote the alias "Fox Mulder" on it, followed by a phone number that wasn't his, Cassie watched over his shoulder as he did this. Rachel identified herself as Dana Scully, and gave another number that Cassie knew wasn't anywhere near her real one. Next to sign a name was Slade. Cassie supposed that he was going to use the name he had given her, after all, who could make anything of that name? But no, Slade gave the name Vincent Valentine and another number as his own.

Then the paper was passed to Cassie, and for the life of her, she couldn't think of an alias as the others had seemed to do so readily. Of course, the fact that Captain Torrelli was practically breathing down her neck didn't help Cassie's concentration in the least.

"Don't you know your own name?" Captain Torrelli demanded.

"Yes, of course I do," Cassie said, with just the faintest hint of apprehension in her voice. "It's… um… Cindy… that's right. Cindy Crawford."

Marco and Rachel both somehow managed to discreetly give Cassie a 'what are you, _crazy_?!' look behind the Captain's back. Cassie ignored them, instead writing the alias she had chosen for herself and another sequence of numbers. Captain Torrelli and his lieutenant left after that, presumably to call the Animorphs' parents. Not that they were going to get much use out of the numbers they had been given.

"_Cindy Crawford_?!" Marco demanded. "Are you out of your mind?! Every guy in the country knows who she is!"

"_Me_?" Cassie shot back. "What about _you_?"

Marco sighed, shaking his head. "Let's just forget about it." Marco turned to Slade. "By the way, nice going with your name vampire boy."

Slade shrugged. "Thanks, I guess."

"We should really get out of here while those soldiers are busy," Rachel said. "I don't think they're going to be too happy once they finish calling those numbers we gave them. The one I wrote down was for Pizza Hut delivery."

"I gave them the number for the Sports Scoreboard recording," Marco said, smirking.

A fuzzy memory drifted into Slade's mind, and he chuckled. "All they're going to get from the number I gave them is an ice-cream cake."

After she had gotten over a slight giggling fit, Cassie settled down enough to tell her friends what number she had given. "I just gave them one-two-three-four-five-six-seven-eight."

"Eight?" Marco asked, disbelieving. "You gave them _eight_ numbers?"

"I did," Cassie confirmed. "Why? What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Marco shook his head. "Just remind me never to take up espionage as a career if I'm partnered with you."


	43. Escape escapades

Cassie didn't know how to respond to that.

"Now," Marco said. "The only question is: how do we get out of here?"

"I could use my grizzly morph to---"

"No!" Cassie hissed, forcefully but quietly cutting Rachel off before her friend could go too far with that train of thought. "As far as we know, these people aren't Controllers. We can't go around killing them just because they happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or, in this case, because _we_ were in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"I don't particularly mind the idea," Slade said offhandedly, not really considering the lives of his enemies worth much concern.

Cassie gave Slade a worried look, not wanting to think about the possible implications of that statement.

"We need something small enough to get out of this place without being seen," Cassie said. "I vote we go housefly."

"I hate flies," Rachel said, making a face.

"How about ants?" Cassie asked.

"No."

"What about Slade?" Marco asked. "Or does he already have a bug morph of some kind?"

"No, I don't." For a minute Slade looked mildly disgusted. "I don't think I particularly _want_ one, either," he said.

Cassie looked troubled for a moment; she couldn't believe how forgetful she was being. "Maybe the three of us who can should morph cockroaches, and then Slade could carry us out in his raven morph. Do you have a problem with cockroaches, Rachel?"

"No. I don't have any problems with them," Rachel said.

Marco looked at Rachel as if she had suddenly sprouted a third arm. "You hate the idea of morphing a fly or an ant, but you're perfectly okay with morphing a _cockroach_?"

"Yes," Rachel smirked. "Is there something weird about that?"

Marco declined to comment, and Rachel was already starting to morph. Not wanting to waste any more time, Marco started his morph. As Slade watched, his allies' bodies began twisting and deforming. Slade shuddered in disgust, before turning away and starting his own morph.

Rachel and Cassie were farther along than Slade and Marco, but Marco was starting to catch up to the two girls. Finally, all four Animorphs stood in their respective morphs.

Slade, get under the table, quickly! Rachel said, as soon as the three cockroaches had hidden themselves in Slade's feathers.

Slade shuddered again, which was an odd thing to see considering he was a raven at the time, and raced as fast as his short legs would carry him, over to a small table on the far right side of the room.

***

Outside, Lance Torrelli and his lieutenant Robert Murdock were coming back to the room that held the four teenagers. Neither of them was particularly happy.

"Pizza Hut, eh?" Torrelli muttered, angrily stomping toward the door that separated him from the four teenagers. "I'll show the little monsters some Pizza Hut!" Torrelli snorted, like a bull just before it charged, and turned to ask a question of Robert. "So. What did that Vincent kid give you for a home phone number?"

"You know that Thirty-one Flavors place?" Robert asked. "The ice-cream shop? That's what the kid put down as his number."

Torrelli shook his head. "I should have known better than to trust the word of a bunch of smooth-talking kids."

***

The door opened, slamming into the opposite wall with the force of the shove it had been given.

"All right you kids— What the bloody _hell_?!"

"What is it, sir?" the other soldier asked, and the Animorphs recognized the voice as belonging to the Lieutenant that had originally captured them.

Now, Slade, get out of here! Rachel said. Run!

Slade dashed out of the room without a word, taking advantage of his small size to let him slip out the door unnoticed. The last thing Slade heard before he turned the corner was Torrelli yelling about how the Animorphs had been in a locked room, and so how the hell did they get out? Inwardly Slade laughed,_ Wouldn't you like to know?_

Running down the right hallway, Slade had to fight against the raven's urge to fly. Slade knew that he would have a better chance of escaping the base on foot, since he was so small.

Where, exactly, are we going? Slade asked.

Just head for daylight, Slade, Cassie said.

Right.

Slade turned another corner, going left this time, and nearly ran headlong into a stampeding group of soldiers. Hugging the wall to avoid being stepped on, Slade waited for the soldiers to pass. One of them looked down and saw him, but thought he was just an unwary bird who had had the bad luck to get trapped inside the base.

As the woman leaned over to scoop him up, Slade clamped down on the raven's instinct to bite her. She darted out of the herd, rounded a few corners, then tossed him into the air.

"Have a nice life, little bird," she laughed, as Slade flapped hard to gain altitude.

He caught a decent headwind, and rode it for all he was worth.

Cassie! Rachel! Marco! Slade! Where are you guys? Do you need my help?

No Tobias, we're fine, Cassie assured him. Slade got us out on his raven morph.

Oh, good. You're not still on the ground, are you? Tobias asked.

No. We're pretty high up by now, Slade said. Why d'you ask?

There was a column of… vehicles that was just starting to move out, presumably when you guys left the base. They would have been all over you guys in a couple minutes if you had stayed on the ground.

Vehicles? Marco asked. What kind of vehicles? Jeeps? Some of those trucks we saw earlier?

No, Tobias said gravely. This column is made up of tanks.

So I guess it would have been a bad thing if we'd stayed on the ground? Slade asked rhetorically a smirk evident in his voice.

Yes, Slade, Cassie said with a laugh. It would have been a very bad thing.

By this time, Slade had caught up with Tobias, and the two of them were making their way out of Area 51's airspace. After flying over the outer fence, Slade and Tobias circled slowly downward. Finally Tobias found a serviceable gully. The stream that had formed it was small right now, so there wasn't much chance of the Animorphs getting wet while they demorphed.


	44. The long flight home

Tobias fluttered down to land on the bank of the gully, while Slade landed just next to the miniature stream. As the three cockroaches scuttled out of his feathers, Slade had a brief urge to snap them up with his sharp beak. He shook it off, putting up a firm telepathic wall between his mind and the raven's.

The other Animorphs were already starting to demorph, and Slade figured that he'd better catch up. It took them about twenty minutes to fully demorph, Slade took a bit longer since he had to split his focus between maintaining the telepathic wall between his own mind and the raven's.

"Is everyone all right?" Cassie asked.

"We're all fine," Marco said, looking around at his fellow Animorphs. "I just wish I could see the look on that jerk Captain Torrelli's face when he realizes we've all suddenly disappeared." He laughed, and Slade, seeing the humor laughed with him.

Rachel shoved him, her anger at his earlier actions making itself known now that the Animorphs no longer needed to present a united front. "What was _with _you, asking all those stupid questions?!" she demanded. "He would probably have let us go if it hadn't been for you!"

Marco's demeanor lost all traces of his earlier humor. "No, he actually would _not_ have let us go until he'd called all of our parents. This would not have been a good thing. So I deliberately provoked him, and now he'll just write us off as another bunch of deluded wackos. If we'd seemed perfectly sensible, then he'd _really_ wonder what we were doing out there with no shoes."

Neither Cassie nor Rachel knew how to respond to that, so they didn't say anything. Slade's estimation of Marco went up several notches. _So, he's the one in charge of security for this army. I'll keep that in mind,_ Slade thought. After all, one never knew when an issue of security might come up, and it was best to know who to discuss such things with.

"So now what?" Rachel asked. "It's starting to get late. We should all be getting home right about now. Those of us that can, anyway," she said, casting an apologetic glance at Slade.

Slade shrugged it off, turning to look at Cassie. Who, he was starting to piece together, was Jake's second-in-command. But it wasn't Cassie that spoke next, it was Tobias.

You guys should all start morphing as soon as you feel up to it. The air's starting to cool off by now. We won't have as many thermals to help us along.

As the four Animorphs started to climb out of the gully, wanting to be on level ground before they started morphing, Tobias suddenly piped up again.


	45. Seeing Things

Wait, I hear something. Everyone down! Hide till I see what it is.

Dropping back to the bottom of the gully, the four humans quickly hid behind a bush. Unfortunately for them, this particular bush happened to be of the thorny variety.

"Well," Marco groused. "_This_ is fun."

It just some horses, Tobias reported. False alarm. You guys can get up now.

"Finally," Marco muttered, already starting to rise.

Grabbing his arm, Cassie stopped him before he could raise his head over the top of the bush. "No, just wait," she hissed.

A group of horses, six in all, walked cautiously down into the gully several feet from where the Animorphs were hiding. They were heading for the small stream. The group was lead by a pale gray stallion.

"_See_?!" Marco demanded. "It's just a bunch of stupid horses. _Now _can I get this thorn out of my butt?"

Cassie shushed him, closely scrutinizing the group of horses. There was something unnerving about them. Cassie wasn't sure what it was, but the group was really setting off her radar. Four of the horses started to drink, and the fifth and sixth stood watching them. The stallion stood guard, and it would have seemed like a perfectly harmless scene to anyone else. But Cassie wasn't convinced.

There was something… not right about this particular herd of horses. Cassie knew this, and that was why she held Marco back. The sixth horse, a roan mare that Cassie thought looked like she might have come from thoroughbred stock, walked up to the pale gray stallion. She almost seemed to be whispering in the stallion's ear. A few seconds later… she was doing something that all horses did at one point or another.

"That horse is taking a dump," Marco whispered.

"_Thank you_ for pointing that out. We'd have _never_ realized that if it hadn't been for you, Beavis," Rachel hissed.

"Horse patties," Marco cackled quietly. "Prairie Pies," he chuckled lowly.

"Oh, that tears it," Rachel hissed in exasperation, starting to rise to her feet. "I refuse to share a bush with this annoying little---"

"Wait! Be quiet," Cassie hissed urgently.

The mare who had just a few seconds ago been pooping stopped suddenly. The other horses were all staring at her, neighing. Cassie thought that it seemed like they were laughing. The mare tossed her head, turned away from the others, and calmly walked behind a tree to finish what she had been doing.

"A _modest_ horse?" Cassie asked smugly, making sure to keep her voice low so that the horses wouldn't hear.

"Well I've got to admit, it _does_ look kind of strange," Rachel said, keeping her voice down for the same reason that Cassie had.

The four of them waited until the horses had finished drinking and left the gully. Tobias fluttered down from his perch on a dead, felled tree to join the others sitting under the bramble bush. Cassie, followed by Rachel and Marco and lastly by Slade, crawled out from underneath the bush. Cassie brushed a few lingering brambles off her morphing outfit, while Rachel and Slade both picked brambles out of their hair.

"I've never seen, or heard of a horse that hid behind a tree to do her business," Cassie said. She looked around at her fellow Animorphs. "Are you guys satisfied now? Those were _not_ normal horses."

"I think you're right about that," Slade said, getting to his feet and stretching.

"Okay, even _I _have to admit that that was not normal," Marco said, brushing dust and dirt off his bike shorts.

Once all four of the currently-human Animorphs had climbed up the sides of the gully, they started morphing again. After they had taken to the air, Tobias, Cassie, Slade, Marco and Rachel flew together until they had gotten to the point where they were forced to go their separate ways. Slade quickly fell in behind Cassie, making sure to stay far enough away as not to attract any undue attention.


	46. Homecoming

Slade and Cassie had soon arrived back at Cassie's barn. Flying in through the hayloft, the same way that they had flown out earlier, Cassie and Slade pulled up once they had reached the hayloft floor. They both started demorphing at the same time, and once Cassie was done she climbed back down the ladder, while Slade went almost to the edge to wave to her as she climbed down.

Once Cassie was out of sight, Slade walked back behind the stacks of hay-bales to deal with his bedding. After shaking the loose bits of hay out of his blanket, Slade tossed the blanket over his shoulder and headed over to the other stack of hay-bales. Grabbing the bottom of the stack, Slade hauled it over to where the other two bales were stacked.

Slade stepped back a couple paces to better admire his work. _That should be good enough to hide behind, at least._ Sweeping away the remaining pieces of loose straw, Slade carelessly tossed his blanket down and went out to retrieve his clothes. After he'd hidden them with his blanket and pillow, Slade started to make up his rudimentary bed. Laying down on the hard floor, Slade considered using the scattered straw and hay to make a sort of mattress for himself.

__

Probably'd be too itchy, Slade thought after a few moments of consideration. Yawning hugely, Slade lay his head on the pillow and drifted off a few minutes later.


	47. Awake and Dreaming

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*** ***

The laughter of two nearly-grown boys echoed down the hallway. A few teasing threats were tossed between the two of them, as the twin in front reached the door. Looking behind himself, he saw that his brother wasn't far behind. Pulling the door open, the foremost twin dashed through, slammed the door behind himself, and braced his bodyweight against it.

Once he started hearing pounding on the outside of the door, he quickly locked it, making sure to time it just right; so that the quiet sound of the lock clicking would be covered by the much louder pounding. Chuckling to himself, the twin who had actually made_ it into the bathroom took a moment to savor his victory._

"All right –ess you've had your fun, now open the door already!"

The twin inside the bathroom chuckled to himself. Well,_ he thought. Someone's_ certainly in a bad mood._ Walking over to the CD player that he and his brother had pitched in to buy for use in the bathroom and pulling a CD out of his oversized pocket, he pressed the button on the CD player that would open the disk tray. Popping open the CD case, he lay the CD inside the tray and hit the button that retracted the tray back into the CD player._

Turning the player on, he turned it up just enough to drown out most of the pounding.

"Oh no! You turn off that stupid, crappy excuse for music right now, brother mine!"

"Bite me, brother mine!"

Laughing, the elder twin started taking off his clothes. Shirtless, but still wearing his jeans, he abruptly remembered that he'd forgotten to put down the towel, the one that kept the floor from getting wet when someone took a shower. He could still hear his younger twin pounding on the door of the bathroom, and idly wondered when his brother would get tired of trying to get him to come out.

Stripping off the last of his clothes, the elder twin pushed aside the plastic curtain and stepped into the shower. Turning on the water, he ducked out of the way before any of the freezing spray could hit him. He'd figured that it wouldn't be long before his dad came, drawn by the racket his little brother was making, and he wanted to be ready for him. Dad had never dragged anyone out of the shower, especially when they were naked and soaking wet.

Sticking a hand into the stream of water coming from the showerhead, he found that it was at just the temperature he liked. Sitting down, the black-haired boy tilted his head back and let the warm water run over his head and soak into his hair. Scooting backward, he leaned against the back rim of the bathtub and picked up the bottle of his preferred liquid soap.


	48. His Master’s Voice

__

… Slade…

Huh?

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Slade, my warrior, come to me…

Slade sat up, knowing that that voice had not been part of his dream. It _had_ been familiar to him, though.

__

Of course my voice is familiar to you, little one. I am your master.

You are? Slade asked. _Then how come I don't remember you?_

You were lost to me, little one. But, now that I've found you again…

The telepathic voice trailed off, but Slade knew instinctively what his master wanted of him. Tossing aside the blanket he'd been given, Slade rushed out to the edge of the hayloft. Not stopping, not even after he'd reached the end of the floor, Slade leaped out of the hayloft. Powerful leg muscles propelled him high enough to almost touch the rafters of the barn.

Free-falling, Slade crossed his arms above his head, and had to bite back a shout of pure exhilaration. Most Teknomen, since they were both immortal and essentially indestructible, tended to be thrill-seekers of one sort or another. Slade was no exception from this trend.

Crouching to lessen the impact of his landing, Slade only now noticed that the edges of everything in his range of vision were outlined by a faint green glow. If Slade had been able to catch a glimpse of himself in any mirror, he would have seen that his eyes were glowing the same bright, emerald-white that they had been when he had first demonstrated his telepathic powers to Rachel.

Slipping out of the barn, Slade felt a cool night breeze ruffle his long black hair.

__

I think I've lost your signal, Slade called out. _Where are you?_

This way, little one. Come to me.

Homing in on the rather obvious, to a telepath at least, thought trail that his master was leaving for him Slade dashed away from Cassie's barn and into the woods. Under the canopy of the trees, Slade looked around again. Everything seemed the same here; every direction looked like the other, and they all seemed to lead to the same inevitable destination.

__

This way!

Orienting right, Slade was off like a shot. The trees blurred around him as he rushed by them. Crashing through the underbrush like an out-of-control locomotive, Slade followed the voice that would lead him home.

Not so far away, on a tree that the path of Slade's manic race would soon take him past, Tobias was just settling down to go to sleep. He'd had a rare late hunt and was feeling comfortably full; not a common feeling for a bird-of-prey, even one with a human mind. Just as Tobias was starting to fall asleep, he heard the sound of fast footfalls coming his way.

Listening closely, Tobias found that the sounds were coming from a biped, most likely a human given the fact that Tobias knew that this particular forest wasn't home to any large bipedal animals. And the Hork-Bajir colony was too far away for any of the free Hork-Bajir to be this close to Cassie's barn.

__

Running. I'm still running. Slade smiled, more of a predatory snarl than anything else. _I think I like it._

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Of course you do, the voice of his master chucked softly as it rolled through Slade's mind. _You _are _one of my warriors, after all._


	49. Midnight Battles

Tobias had been following Slade for some time, and he was starting to wonder if the other would ever slow down.

Slade! Tobias called. Where are you going?

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I was called. I come of my own free will, was all the answer Tobias received. Something about that statement rang false, though, so Tobias continued to follow Slade's path through the forest.

Catching a strong breeze, Tobias managed to get a look at Slade's face. His eyes were glowing like a pair of green headlights and Tobias had the feeling that this wasn't normal, even for someone like Slade.

Slade, stop! I think there's something wrong with you.

Slade ignored him, running through a bramble bush without seeming to care about the sharp thorns that tore at his exposed legs.

Slade, where are you going? Tobias called again. Nothing but mental silence was his answer.

Deciding that trying to talk Slade out of whatever he was doing would get him nowhere, Tobias landed and started morphing into a Hork-Bajir. They were strong, and faster than they at first looked, the ideal morph to keep up with the seemingly possessed Slade. Once Tobias was fully morphed, he started running, following the sounds of foliage being kicked aside and trying to make up for lost time.

After about ten minutes the sounds started to get louder, so Tobias knew he was getting closer. Abruptly the sound of running stopped, and Tobias peered through a stand of young trees that separated him from Slade. Slade was just standing in a clearing, it was as if he was waiting for someone.

__

Why am I still here? Slade asked, having been ordered to stop some time ago by his master.

__

Wait a moment, little one, things will become clear in a very short time.

Sure enough, out of the stand of trees came a creature that Slade didn't recognize in the slightest.

__

I've seen one of those before! His master's voice seemed to be both annoyed and amused by this new development. Slade wondered about that, that and something else, as well.

__

You have? he asked. _Where?_

That is not your concern, little one. All you need to know is this: he is your enemy. Kill him.

With a deft flick of his wrists, Slade did something he'd never done before in all his short existence: he called the lancer that had been made for him when he became a Teknoman out of its resting place in subspace. The shafts of light from the full moon glittered off the razor-sharp edges of the bright silver lancer.

The halves were both just over the length of his outstretched arms, united they would have cleared the top of Slade's head.

Slade, what are you doing out here? asked a weak telepathic voice that Slade was sure he'd never heard before. Come with me, I'll take you back to the barn.

The newcomer sounded distinctly breathless, and more than a little concerned for him. Slade wondered briefly why that was, and then smirked coldly when he realized he didn't care. _Might as well show this freak just how big of a mistake he's making._


	50. Battle’s End

Tobias was unnerved to see Slade's smirk, lit up freakishly by his glowing eyes, but he was outright frightened when the only answer he received from Slade was a vicious slash that nearly took off his right hand. Before Tobias could ask Slade what the hell he thought he was doing, or even to wonder about where he had gotten those weird sword things he was holding now, Slade was on him.

Hacking, thrusting, slashing and stabbing, Slade was altogether different from the nervous-seeming, almost shy boy that Tobias had met in Cassie's barn. Slade was now a deadly adversary. Jumping back from a sudden and particularly viscous double slash, Tobias realized that there would be no reasoning with Slade. He would have to fight for his life, against someone he knew almost nothing about.

"What's the matter, freak?" Slade sneered, swinging the blade in his right hand in a wide arc that would have split Tobias' stomach if he hadn't lurched backward at precisely the right moment. "Are you afraid of me?"

Tobias leaped backward just as Slade sprung forward, both blades hissing as they flew through the air in a downward vertical slash. Tobias was unpleasantly surprised to realize that Slade was actually laughing.

"You know, you're better at this than you look." Slade said conversationally, casually swinging his blades back and forth like a pair of pendulums. "But then, I suppose you'd have to be."

Crouching, his blades crossed over his chest, Slade sprung forward again, both swordpoints aimed for the base of Tobias' neck.

"Come on!" Forward thrust.

"What are you waiting for?" Downward spinning slice.

"You either fight me, or you die." Left slash, followed quickly by a right.

Tobias was hard-pressed to keep up with Slade's inhuman speed, but since he was a Hork-Bajir he held on. Seeing an opening, Tobias lunged forward, digging his right wrist-blade deep into the flesh just under Slade's right shoulder. The blade made a sucking-pop as Slade forcibly pulled it out of his shoulder.

"Well," Slade commented with a dangerous grin. "Looks like you managed to draw first blood." Drawing the fingers of his left hand across the deep gash that Tobias had made in his arm, Slade licked the blood he had collected off his fingers.

Grinning like a crazed thing, Slade leaped forward again. His swords were a blur of silver steel, and blood dripped in massive rivulets down his right arm. Tobias was instantly on the defensive again, but now he was also looking for another opening. Tobias knew, or at least hoped, that once Slade was too weak to fight, he would be able to reason with the other boy.

Slade was fighting harder than he had been before, but somehow Tobias felt that Slade wasn't yet fighting at his full strength. Tobias had no way of knowing just how right he was. As a Teknoman, in addition to having his lancer stored in subspace, Slade was also capable of calling up a full suit of armor from that strange other dimension.

Tobias roared in agony as the swordpoint of the blade in Slade's right hand pierced Tobias' own right shoulder.

"Paid you back," Slade said grinning madly, blood dripping off his arm.

Leaping forward, Slade swung his blades in a quick upward thrust. The moonlight caught the edges of the swords in Slade's hands, showing off the large serration on both sides. Tobias wasn't stupid enough to waste time staring at the things, though, not since his last encounter with their tips.

"Here, catch!" Slade shouted, swinging the blade in his right hand rapidly left to right.

Two V-shaped blades detached from the main shaft with a sharp _ptching_ sound. The only other warning Tobias had was a pair of bright flashes. Dodging out of the way, Tobias heard the sound of something fast slicing through the trees. Not wanting to find out the hard way what they were, Tobias quickly ran behind Slade.

Slade! What are you doing?! I'm your _friend_, remember?!

__

I'm not liiiiiistening to you, Slade singsonged, laughing.

Once his two errant blades had reattached themselves to the main shaft of his lancer, Slade turned to confront Tobias again. Blocking a sudden downward swing, Slade back-stepped and sprung forward again, both in quick succession. Tobias blocked another of Slade's swings, but when Hork-Bajir bone met Radam biometal, Hork-Bajir bone didn't do so well.

Slade's weapon proved to be the superior, cutting through Tobias' left wrist-blade like a stake knife through tissue paper. Ducking under a swing, Tobias stabbed Slade deep in the left flank. Hissing like an angry serpent, Slade snapped the handles of his blades together and twisted them until they locked into place; forming a single long double-ended staff/lance.

Tobias didn't have any more time to think, as Slade came at him with more ferocity than before. Obviously having taken a personal exception to Tobias' tactics. It was now nearly impossible for Tobias to score any hits past the rather lethal obstacle that Slade's lance presented.

Tobias was quickly reduced back to merely dodging Slade's swings, and trying to keep himself out of the way of the sharp ends of Slade's weapon. One of them took a chunk out of his beak, and Tobias jumped backward before Slade could do any more damage. Tobias was getting worried; Slade didn't even seem to _notice_ the wounds that had been inflicted on him anymore.

Tobias ran behind a tree, trying to get some breathing room. It didn't go at all the way he would have wanted it to, though. Slade, with his inhumanly acute night-vision, was able to perfectly track Tobias' movements. Since he hadn't bothered to use any of his bio-energy to shield his feet, Slade left a trail of blood spatters to mark his passing.

A low chuckle was Tobias' only warning, before his impromptu shelter was abruptly felled by a quick slice from Slade's lance. The old tree nearly collapsed on top of Tobias, but his Hork-Bajir body was fast, and so Tobias managed to dodge the falling timber.

After that, there was again no more time for Tobias to pre-plan his moves or come up with anything that resembled a strategy. Slade was on the offensive again.

The first hints of pre-dawn were beginning to gather on the horizon, but under the shadows of the trees neither of the combatants noticed this. Tobias, however, _did_ notice that Slade was starting to become a bit sluggish. Nothing too damaging as yet, but Slade's swings and thrusts didn't flow together as smoothly was they used to.

Tobias, with his rather dim night-vision, was thankful for this small reprieve. The night had taken its toll on him as well. Tobias could smell Slade's drying blood where it had dripped or splattered on the forest floor. Ducking out of range of a horizontal swing, Tobias carved a deep slice into Slade's left shoulder.

Slade didn't give any outward indication that he'd even felt Tobias' latest assault, but the blood that dripped down his left arm was a mute testament to Tobias' success. Slade seemed to be getting a bit dizzy, now that Tobias had cut him yet again. And with the way he kept moving around, the wounds Tobias had inflicted earlier weren't being given any chance to clot, let alone to start healing.

At last, Slade fell to his knees, his blood loss finally overcoming his boosted stamina. Even though Slade was pretty much incapacitated now, Tobias wasn't naïve enough to believe that the other boy wasn't still dangerous. The glow in Slade's eyes was starting to flicker, sputtering like a fire that was being doused with small cups of water.

Tobias came out from behind the small stand of trees that he'd been sheltering behind. Once Slade caught sight of Tobias he glared at him, as if daring Tobias to come within the range of his blade. Tobias stood, well out of Slade's reach, and waited. Slade was breathing heavily now, leaning against his lance just to keep himself upright.

Tobias started demorphing, not wanting to end up trapped in his Hork-Bajir body. Once he was back in his normal hawk body, Tobias watched as Slade lost his grip on his lance and fell to the forest floor seemingly in slow motion. Tobias came closer, but still stayed out of Slade's reach. The other boy's eyes were still open, glowing in that utterly creepy way that they had been since this whole mess began.

Finally Slade's eyes slipped closed entirely, the eerie light flickering one last time before at last dying out. Tobias quickly morphed into his human form, stepping out from behind the rudimentary shelter of the trees Tobias walked over to Slade's prone form. Slade didn't move, even when Tobias laid a hand on his arm. Slade's head was twisted forward, closed eyes still aimed at Tobias' hiding place.


	51. In Dream or Memory

Slade's face was completely relaxed now, as if he was sleeping. _Aside from the fact that he's pretty well covered in blood, I could swear he just walked out here and fell asleep on the ground,_ Tobias thought.

Demorphing swiftly from his human form, since Tobias knew that he wouldn't be able to carry Slade's larger body with his relatively weaker one. Once he was fully demorphed, Tobias morphed back into a Hork-Bajir. Tobias made sure to be careful of his Hork-Bajir blades, not wanting to injure Slade any more than he had been forced to. Tobias had heard the distinct sound of a rushing stream flowing in the distance, and Tobias knew that it would be better to get the blood off of Slade's body and clothes before it had a chance to dry.

Once they had reached the stream, Tobias set Slade down on the right bank and proceeded to rinse the semi-clotted blood off of Slade's body. At first, Tobias thought that the cold water might wake Slade, so that he and Slade could talk. _And then maybe I can get some answers from him._ But the splash of the cold water on Slade's arms and chest did _not_ wake the older boy, and so Tobias surmised that Slade was simply too tired from his earlier exertion to react in any way to the touch of the water on his skin.

Tobias sighed; at least as much as any Hork-Bajir _could_ sigh, it was probably better for him that Slade wasn't awake right now. Tobias demorphed into his hawk body then quickly remorphed into his human form, knowing that his Hork-Bajir claws weren't suited for such a delicate task.

Tobias had only stayed in his Hork-Bajir morph because he hadn't known if Slade was going to wake up, or what Slade would do _once_ he woke up, and he'd at least known that his Hork-Bajir morph could handle Slade if it came down to another fight. But Slade still slept, and so Tobias figured that it was safe enough for him to be in his human morph.

After he was finished rinsing the blood off of Slade's arms and body, Tobias watched, surprised, as the older boy's fingertips gently brushed the shaft of his long lance. The weapon seemed to shimmer for a moment, before disappearing entirely with a muted flash of green-white light. Tobias thought that Slade might wake up then, but the older boy still slept.

That wasn't the only strange thing Tobias saw while he was hovering over Slade, wondering if and when the older boy would wake up. But, what Tobias saw next was the strangest thing he had seen that night. A flicker of emerald-green light skittered along Slade's left arm, then another did the same along his right. The flickers soon came so rapidly that Tobias couldn't tell one from the next.

Soon, there were two long lines of green light trailing along both of Slade's arms. But the lines looked more like blueprints for some kind of armor than normal lines. They were glowing brightly enough to illuminate the skin underneath. Tobias watched, fascinated and a bit frightened, as both wounds in Slade's shoulders healed in seconds, soon looking as if they'd never been inflicted.

Another strange green "blueprint" appeared on Slade's left side, and the wound there was as quick to heal as the others had been. _This is the strangest thing I've seen all week._

Tobias had long since demorphed, and was now watching over Slade as he slept. Slade was starting to stir now, as if in preparation for waking, so Tobias got as far out of the other boy's range as he could while still being able to keep an eye on him. All Slade seemed to be doing at the moment was twitching and moaning softly.

It had been a long time since Tobias had slept in anything resembling a normal bed, but he thought he could recall doing something like this when he was supposed to get up for school. Slade's eyes were starting to flutter, the moans subsiding into soft sighs. Finally, Slade's eyes opened and he slowly sat up.

Slade was confused; the last thing he remembered clearly was falling asleep in the hayloft after getting back from that Area 51 place. _What am I doing out here?_ Slade searched his scattered recollection, but couldn't come up with anything that would have resulted in this odd situation.

__

Is anybody here? Can anyone hear me?

Slade? Are you, well… you again?

__

Tobias, that's you, right? What do you mean, am I me again? Who else would I be?

Don't ask, I don't think you even _want_ to know.

Slade thought that over, shrugged, and turned his attention back to his conversation with Tobias. _Fair enough. Where are we? For that matter, where are you?_

I'm up in the tree, about five feet behind you and to your right.

__

Right.

Standing, Slade headed for the tree Tobias had said that he was perched in. Looking up into its branches, Slade quickly spotted Tobias.

"Hey, hawk-boy. Come all the way out here just to check on me, did you?" Despite the light tone of his voice, Slade was touched by the fact that someone he'd barely known for more than a day was looking out for him.

I guess you could say that.

"Thanks," Slade muttered, just lowly enough that his voice wouldn't carry through the forest.

Why don't we head back to the barn?

"Sure," Slade said, shrugging. "Only, I think you'll have to lead me back." He looked around. "I'm a little lost."

Sure thing, Slade.

Tobias hopped out of the tree and flared his wings, zooming over Slade's head with a rush of feathers. Tobias wasn't an owl, after all. Turning smoothly on his heel, Slade followed Tobias out of the forest.

Once he was back in the hayloft, Slade felt a great wave of tiredness wash over him. Yawning hugely, Slade ducked behind the stacks of hay-bales that served as an impromptu shelter. Pulling the blanket over his shoulders, Slade fell back to sleep.

This time, he didn't dream.


	52. Typical Morning

Far away, deep in the underground base of the Radam, Darkon hissed in frustration. He had been close that time, _very_ close.

The next time Slade woke up, he actually felt rested. Coming out from behind the hay-bales, and looking out over the edge of the hayloft, Slade saw Cassie approaching. It looked like she was carrying a bag. Slade smiled fondly, remembering that Cassie would bring him breakfast.

Good morning, Cassie.

Cassie could literally _hear_ the fond smile in Slade's silent voice. The first time Slade had used his telepathy to speak to her, Cassie had been a bit surprised. When she had asked him if he was in morph somewhere, Slade had said that he hadn't tried out his morph yet. Since she'd had a lot of prior experience with thought-speak, Cassie wasn't as surprised by Slade's telepathic powers as another person would have been.

Knowing that Slade was probably looking down at her from his perch in the hayloft, Cassie smiled up at him and waved. Climbing the ladder up into the loft, Cassie looked around. There were two stacks, both made up of two hay-bales each, positioned to hide something without being too obvious about it. Slade himself was just rising from a crouch, turning and walking away from the edge of the hayloft.

"Hey, Cassie," Slade said, smiling warmly. His eyes flicked to the strap of the bag slung over her right shoulder. "So, what's for breakfast this morning?"

Cassie swung the bag off her shoulder, dropping it down onto the inside of her elbow before handing it over to Slade. "Cinnamon sugar oatmeal."

Slade took the bag without comment. "Same thing as yesterday, then. Cool."

"I'll see you later, Slade," Cassie smiled at him again as she turned away.

__

Have a nice day, Cassie, Slade said, just as he lost sight of her over the edge of the hayloft. Ducking back behind his little fortress of hay-bales, Slade took out the smallish Tupperware container and the spoon that Cassie had always provided for him.

Halfway down the ladder, Cassie remembered that Slade didn't have anything that could even be considered a combat morph. _Okay, so I'll have to take him to The Gardens today, but I can do that just as easily after breakfast as before,_ Cassie thought as she climbed down.


	53. Enemy in hiding

The teknopod surrounding him burst, and the fluid drained away into the ground. Gunnar pulled himself to his feet, shaking his head to try and make himself wake up faster. _There has _got_ to be a better way to wake up than this,_ Gunnar thought to himself.

If Darkon heard that thought, he didn't respond.

__

Get dressed, Gunnar. I have a mission for you.

Gunnar quickly did as he had been ordered.

__

What's the mission? Gunnar asked, after having gotten dressed in another of the outfits that he had brought along.

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I have managed to make contact with our errant warrior, Slade. He is very strong-willed. And he seems to be well protected, Darkon paused, but whether he was gathering his thoughts or just fuming Gunnar couldn't tell. _Slade has also allied himself with a creature that I hadn't thought we would ever encounter again._

What kind of creature is that? Gunnar asked.

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That information is not relevant to your mission, Darkon said shortly. _I simply require you to bring Slade back to us._

Gunnar sighed, he should have known that he wouldn't get any real information out of Darkon. _So, where is Slade staying?_

I saw a large wooden structure when I looked through his eyes. With the speed that Slade was traveling, I was not able to see much more of the structure than the details I have just informed you of, Darkon admitted grudgingly. _The structure is approximately five and a half miles northeast of this location._

Gunnar nodded, not saying anything else. He knew that there was no way for him to safely refuse this kind of mission, and Gunnar had firsthand experience with what Darkon did to those who displeased him.

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I'll get right on it, sir.

With those last words, Gunnar turned and walked out of the base. It went almost exactly the same way that his earlier trip out of there, with the vines forming stairs and only getting out of Gunnar's way when he was about to run into them. Stepping out into the bright sunlight again was something Gunnar enjoyed immensely, having felt trapped inside the darkness of the Radam base.

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So at least there's a little bit of an upside to being sent out on a retrieval mission like this. With that thought to comfort himself with, Gunnar turned northeast, and set off to see what he could find.


	54. A simple trip to the Zoo

Cassie and her parents had had a nice, quiet breakfast, and Cassie had asked if it was okay if her friends came over that afternoon. They had both said that it was just fine with them. Cassie had also told them that she was going to take a walk in the woods before any of them arrived. Cassie still hated lying to her parents, but there was no way that she could tell even a bit of the truth without it leading to all kinds of unanswerable questions.

__

Times like this, I guess it's just best to say as little as possible, Cassie thought as she climbed back up into the hayloft. Stepping up off of the ladder, Cassie caught a glimpse of some of Slade's black hair sticking out from behind the stacks of hay-bales that hid his bed. Her footfalls on the bare wood floor weren't exactly silent, so Slade had plenty of warning of her approach.

"Slade, it's me, Cassie," Cassie said, seeing Slade duck back behind his hay-bales.

__

Cassie? What happened? You usually don't come to collect my dishes till about lunchtime when you're off from school.

"I'm not here for that," Cassie reassured him. Slade tilted his head, giving her an unmistakable 'okay, then what _are_ you here for?' look. "I was just thinking about how you don't have any morphs that can fight."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Slade raised an eyebrow.

"It's the only way you'll be able to fight the Yeerks with us," Cassie said. Neither she, nor even Slade knew about Slade's powers as a Teknoman. Cassie had never seen them, and Slade hadn't been in the teknopod long enough to learn about his powers.

"Okay," Slade said a little dubiously. He might not have known about his Teknoman powers, but his pride was still intact. "So, what do we have to do?"

"Morph into a raven and follow me," Cassie said, already starting her Osprey morph. "I'll explain the rest when we get there."

"Get where?" Slade asked, shedding his outer clothing and beginning to morph into a raven.

I'm taking you to The Gardens to acquire a combat morph.

Is the Gardens a zoo, or is it more like this place?

Actually, The Gardens is what's known as a wildlife park, Cassie said, now fully an Osprey.

There's a difference between the two? Slade asked incredulously, having just completed his morph.

Cassie laughed ruefully. Not much of one I'm afraid, but people tend to think of cages and things like that when they hear the word 'zoo'. By calling The Gardens a wildlife park I think they avoid some of the bad press that zoos have.

So, it's just semantics? Slade asked, his voice somewhere between laughing and disbelieving.

Pretty much, Cassie admitted, chuckling at his tone.

Why didn't you just tell me that in the _first_ place? Slade asked with a mock whine.

You didn't ask, Cassie said smugly.

The both of them burst out laughing after that statement. Cassie didn't know why she found it so easy to banter with Slade, she just did. Flying up and out of the hayloft window, the two of them were soon on their way.

Slade loved flying, it just came so naturally to him. There were times that he wondered why that was, and also if he shouldn't be just a little more worried about doing something that a normal person would probably find pretty unnerving. Cassie didn't seem unduly worried, though it was probably because she had been doing things like this a lot longer than he had.

__

I wonder why I feel so… normal doing this? Adjusting the angle of his wings to bring himself in line with Cassie's flightpath, Slade decided to shelve those thoughts. They weren't important right now. As he and Cassie flew onward, Slade wondered what would happen when they finally reached their destination.

__

I guess I'll find out when we get there. Slade would have shrugged, but that would have thrown him off course.

Landing in an abandoned area of the path that lead to The Gardens' wildlife enclosures, Cassie and Slade took shelter behind a pair of dumpsters. Cassie would have used her seagull morph to fly to The Gardens, since seagulls were more likely to go unnoticed by the people visiting, but Slade didn't have a seagull morph. There hadn't been any injured gulls in the barn for him to acquire, and Cassie didn't want to find out the hard way if Slade was strong enough to resist the raven's predatory instincts.

Demorphing, Cassie slipped a glance around the edge of the large dumpster they were hidden behind. Once she was sure the way was clear, Cassie turned to Slade.

"Okay Slade, you can demorph now."

Since Slade was substantially taller than her, Cassie had had him remain in morph. Cassie watched the walkway as Slade demorphed, just in case anyone was coming, she heard the last of Slade's demorph finishing up. Looking around again, wanting to make absolutely sure that no one was coming, Cassie turned back to Slade.

"Okay, Slade, I want you to start morphing again."

"Why?"

Cassie looked up at Slade. He was just a little over six feet tall, and wearing nothing but an aerobic outfit, with no shoes. _Not that I look any better myself,_ Cassie admitted silently. But the fact remained that she was smaller than Slade, and in the event that either of them was discovered, Cassie had a marginally better chance of being able to talk herself out of trouble.

She explained as much to Slade, and he quickly started to remorph. Once Slade was fully a raven again, Cassie picked him up and tucked him under her arm.


	55. Selection

Once they had gotten inside, Cassie set Slade down and waited for him to demorph. Once he was done, Cassie turned to him, after having checked again that their way was clear.

"Okay, Slade, this is where the hard part begins."

Slade cocked his head. "I thought we were already done with the hard part."

Cassie smirked. "No, Slade, the hard part is just beginning."

Slade and Cassie both had to bite back chuckles, then they started moving down the corridor that led to where the more dangerous wild animals were kept. They didn't encounter any security guards on their way, and this was partly because of Slade's better than human hearing. Slade could hear a person's footsteps long before the ears of a normal person would have picked up anything, and his keen awareness of his surroundings insured that no mere human would be able to take him by surprise.

As they walked down the twisting hallways, a question Slade had thought about on and off ever since Cassie had decided to take him to this place came to the forefront of Slade's mind. Since Slade couldn't hear any approaching footsteps, Slade decided that now was as good a time to ask as he was likely to get.

"You mentioned something about using morphs to fight the Yeerks?" Slade asked.

"Yes. We kind of have to, since we can't fight very well in our human forms, and we don't want them to know we even _have_ human forms."

Slade nodded. "That makes sense; it's harder to track an enemy when you don't know what they are."

"Well, the Yeerks _think_ they know what we are," Cassie said. "They think we're a group of Andalite warriors that somehow managed to escape to Earth. We'd like to make sure they _keep_ thinking that, so we all make it a point not to talk to them." Cassie smiled faintly. "After all, none of us has any practice with acting like an Andalite. Except for Ax, of course."

"Ax is an Andalite?"

"Yeah," Cassie said, considering whether or not to tell Slade about Visser Three. In the end she decided to tell him, since she figured Slade would have a better chance against the Visser if he knew about him in advance. "There is another Andalite on Earth, but he's not really an Andalite."

"Why do you say that?" Slade asked. "I mean, either this other one's an Andalite or he's not."

"The other one is Visser Three, he has a Yeerk in his head," Cassie clarified.

Slade still wasn't buying the distinction. "That doesn't mean he's not still an Andalite."

Cassie paused; she had never thought of it that way. "I guess not, but don't ever say that to Ax. He gets a little touchy about that subject."

"I'll remember that," Slade said.

The two of them fell silent then, Slade mulling over the things he had been told. Slade honestly didn't know what to think of Ax, not having talked to the Andalite for any real length of time, and having only met him once. Slade didn't know why the Andalite would be oversensitive about the fact that one of his people had been taken by the Yeerks. None of the Animorphs seemed that way, and it was _their _planet being invaded, after all.

Slade shrugged, deciding not to think about that right now. Looking around, Slade found that Cassie had stopped and was staring at him expectantly.

"What?"

"This is where Marco acquired his first morph," Cassie said, pointing to a steel-gray door labeled P-101.

"So what _was_ Marco's first morph?"

"Big Jim, he's the adult silverback gorilla that we keep here. He's still in his own habitat. He's very gentle, so I really don't know why they haven't put him with the other gorillas yet."

"He's gentle?"

"All gorillas tend to be very gentle," Cassie explained. "Unless you're stupid enough to go and make them angry."

Slade considered this new information. "I'm not all that fond of apes." Looking down the hall, since Slade had thought he'd heard footsteps approaching, Slade turned back to Cassie only after the footsteps had faded again. "Do you have any big cats?"

Cassie chuckled. "Right this way, Slade."

Cassie led Slade down the halls, and soon they came to a T-section, and the two of them walked down the left hallway. Cassie led Slade down the hall until they had reached another T-section; this time Cassie led him down the right side branch. As they walked down the corridor, Slade lagging a bit behind Cassie since he didn't know where exactly Cassie was going to lead him, Slade looked around.

Slade's first thought was that they had gone underground; that was the ambiance that this new area had. But it was more then just the ambiance of the place, it was also the fact that the ceiling was more rounded-looking here, and the lights were spaced farther apart. All in all, it _was _like they had descended into a deep subterranean level of The Gardens. Slade personally doubted that that was really the case, since he hadn't felt like they had gone down any inclines.

The two of them took one more turn, a left, before finally arriving at their destination. Cassie and Slade now stood before a plain door of gunmetal-gray, tagged with the rather uncreative name of P-203.

"So, what's behind this?" Slade asked.

"This is the Siberian Tiger habitat," Cassie contemplated the door in front of her for a moment. "In fact, this is the morph Jake uses."

"It is?" Slade stared at the door in front of him. He didn't particularly want to be a pale copy of the Animorphs' leader. "Do you have any others?"

"Of course," Cassie said, grinning. "This wouldn't be much of a park if we didn't have more than one kind of big cat." Cassie took Slade to the next door down; P-205. "This is where we keep the Leopards."

"If you don't mind my asking, Cassie, what morph do you use in combat?"

"I don't mind at all," Cassie said, turning back to Slade. "I use a wolf morph to fight."

Slade thought about that. Frowning, not quite knowing how to ask the question that was on his mind without possibly offending Cassie, Slade decided that it would be easier for him if he just asked. Cassie didn't seem to be the type to get offended by something so small. "Wouldn't a wolf be, I don't know, kind of weak in a fight?"

"It doesn't do nearly as much damage as the morphs the others use," Cassie conceded, leading Slade to the next door down the hall, P-207. "That's kind of the point for me, though. I don't _want_ to do as much damage in battle. I don't like to fight like Ra—like some of the others do," Cassie said quickly to cover her slip.

Slade either didn't notice Cassie's little slip-up, or he chose to ignore it. "What's behind this door?"

"We have a pride of Lions behind that door." Cassie thought for a minute. "I'm not sure if you'd want to acquire one of them. The rest of the pride might attack you while you're distracted."

"Okay, so the Lions are out," Slade shrugged, turning away from the door that led to their habitat.

The next door down was P-209. "This is where the Panthers are kept. Though, if you want to be technically correct I suppose you'd call them black Leopards."

Slade didn't have to think about his decision for very long. Something in him was eager for that morph. "All right Cassie, open the door. I know which one I want."


	56. Hide and Run

Without a word, Cassie opened the door labeled P-209. But, before Slade could step through, Cassie held her arm out, blocking his path. Slade turned to look at her, curiosity evident in his gaze. "Before you go in there, Slade, there's something you should know about the acquiring process."

"What's that?"

"When you start to acquire, the animal will go into a kind of trance. The trance will last for about ten seconds after you break contact," Cassie informed Slade. "That should give you enough time to run for it."

"I'll keep that in mind," Slade smiled. "Thanks Cassie."

Slade walked into the enclosure that held the panthers. It was set up almost identically as the Siberian Tiger habitat, but there was no way for Slade to know this fact. Though Slade probably wouldn't have cared if he knew anyway. Ducking behind a row of bushes, Slade studied his surroundings. There wasn't much cover to work with, so Slade knew he would have a harder time sneaking through this place than he'd had going through the hallways.

__

Okay, so this is the real test, Slade thought to himself. _Getting through those corridors was just a warm-up._ Scanning the area around him one more time, Slade finally spotted what he was looking for. One of the panthers was sunning himself on a flat rock near the far edge of the enclosure. Better still, the rock was itself near the bushes that Slade now saw encircled the outer perimeter of the habitat.

Crouching, Slade ducked out from the bush he was currently hidden in and into one almost right next to it. Slade could see his target, sitting on the rock and seemingly completely oblivious to everything that was going on around it. Slade's trek wasn't going to be as easy as he'd first thought, he now saw. The bushes ringed the edges of the habitat, yes, but Slade could now see that there were quite a few gaps in the circle. And not small ones, either.

Slade huffed, mildly annoyed._ Nothing's ever simple. I hate that._ Slade thought as he slunk into the next bush over. There was a fairly big gap between him and the next bush, and Slade ducked low to the ground and ran into it. Looking out at the thin crowd gathered around the rim of the pit. _Wait, pit? I didn't think we went underground._

Slade looked at the edges of the pit. Since he hadn't felt as if they had gone down any inclines steep enough to have led this far down, the only conclusion that Slade could come to was that whoever had made this zoo had deliberately built high, sloped walls to this habitat. Slade shook himself, turning back to the task at hand.

__

Thinking about how someone built this cat bowl is not_ what I came in here for._ Breathing deeply and letting it out slowly, Slade ran into the next bush. He was now more than halfway to the rock with the panther on it, and Slade thought that something was finally going his way. He liked that thought.

Slade made it through two more bushes before it happened; the feeling that someone was watching him. Slade cocked his head. _There's no one here, so why do I feel like I'm being followed?_ Seconds later, Slade received the answer to his question in the form of a panther leaping out at him.

Had Slade been a normal human, that lunge would have likely knocked him out, leaving the panther free to feast on his insensate form. As he was, Slade turned and punched the attacking cat in the right side of its head. Dazed, the panther stumbled backwards. _Well, one cat's as good as another, I guess._

With that thought, Slade dodged a swinging paw and grabbed hold of the panther's neck. The panther bucked, clawing at Slade's chest and legs, so Slade hoisted himself up onto the animal's back. With the big cat bucking like a rodeo bronco, Slade was hard-pressed just to keep his seat. Grabbing the cat's ears, Slade noticed that they were getting too close to the bush that hid them from the watching crowds.

When the panther crouched, preparing either to spring or to start running – neither of which would have been very good for Slade – Slade braced his right foot against the ground and kicked off hard, upsetting the panther's balance and nearly causing the cat to topple over on top of him. _Gotta remember to use less force next time,_ Slade reminded himself.

Steadying himself, Slade focused on the panther. It wasn't an easy thing to do, what with the cat bucking and clawing at his legs, but once he set his mind to do something, Slade would do it no matter what it cost him in the end. The panther calmed slowly as the acquiring trance started to take effect. Slade knew some of what to expect but, like Jake before him, Slade wasn't truly prepared for the mental aftermath.

Since Slade's own thought processes were already subtly different than a normal human's, the change wasn't as drastic as it had been for Jake. Stepping off the panther's back, Slade looked back at the animal. Forgetting for a moment that he was in a rather precarious position, Slade stood up and dusted himself off.

"Thanks," Slade said to the panther, either unaware or uncaring of the fact that the cat probably didn't understand a word he said.

Slade started to walk out, forgetting still that there were people who could see him. It was one of the spectators that saw him; telling a nearby member of the security staff that there was someone wandering around in the panther habitat.

It was that same feeling again; the sense that someone was following him. Slade had long since learned that his senses were not to be taken lightly. Slade quickly turned to look over his shoulder, catching the Gardens' security worker with his sharp green gaze. _Dammit! I should have been more careful!_ Turning away from the worker, Slade broke into a run.

__

Oh no, Cassie! Slade remembered that his friend was still standing out in the hallway. Slade didn't know what would happen to her if his pursuer found her out there, and he wasn't at all eager to find out. Slade dove forward, slipping out of the door and sweeping Cassie up onto his back before she could make even a slight noise of either protest or assent.

"Slade, where are we going?!" Cassie shrilled, confused by him suddenly rushing out of the door, and startled by being abruptly picked up and swung onto his back.

__

Out, Slade said tightly. _Someone saw me._

Slade dashed through the corridors of The Gardens, expertly retracing his steps even at his currant high speed.

Once the two of them were safely outside again, Slade set Cassie down and caught his breath.

"Who saw you, Slade?" Cassie asked, knowing that though Slade tended to overreact sometimes, he had always seemed to have her safety foremost in mind.

__

Some guy in a uniform. I didn't see the exact color. I guess I should have looked.

"Hmm. I don't know for sure, but you might have just run into one of The Gardens' security guards. It's good that you didn't hang around, but you could have warned me a little sooner about what you were going to do."

"Yeah. Sorry about that, Cassie," Slade said, lowering his eyes.

"It's all right Slade. Let's just morph and get out of here before they decide to come looking for us."

The two of them started morphing, and soon an Osprey and a raven stood in their places. Cassie took off first, followed quickly by Slade.


	57. Crossbred

Far away from the two Animorphs, Gunnar was making slow progress toward the place that Darkon had told him Slade had been hidden. Gunnar wasn't moving as fast as he could have, however, since he really wasn't sure that he wanted to subject Slade to the kind of torture that Darkon was more than likely to put him through once Gunnar had taken Slade back.

__

So why am I out here? Gunnar asked himself again. The Teknoman sighed, _that_ was an easy question to answer. Not that Gunnar had anything resembling fondness for his conclusion. He hated himself for being a coward; for not having the courage to stand up to Darkon, no matter what the consequences would have been.

Sighing again, this time in self-disgust, Gunnar continued his trek.

Slade and Cassie had arrived back at the barn some time ago, but Cassie had gone out some time earlier, leaving Slade alone. Slade leaned back against his stack of hay-bales, thinking about the panther he had acquired. Finally coming to a decision, Slade skittered down the ladder and started morphing.

Once Slade had completed his newly acquired morph, he took a deep whiff of the air in the barn. _Whoa, this is intense_, Slade thought, once his mind had finished processing all the new input he was getting through the panther's nose. Slade liked his new morph, and now he was going to try it out.

Briefly, Slade thought that he should contact Cassie and tell her where he was going, but that thought was soon pushed aside by his rather insistent desire to be somewhere else. The barn suddenly felt altogether too small and crowded for him. Without even a look back, Slade ran out into the front yard.

Of course, the front yard of the barn connected to the back yard of Cassie's family's house, so Slade wasn't in much danger of being seen. Looking around, Slade was a bit disappointed to find that his sense of sight hadn't been enhanced nearly as much as his other senses had. Of course, Slade didn't suspect that this was because his eyesight was already several times better than a normal human's.

Slade paced, getting a feel for his new body and the way it moved. He found it strange to be standing so comfortably on four legs. _I think I could get to like this morph._ Crouching, Slade sprung back to his feet and started running. Into the forest.

Gunnar climbed over a fallen log, scanning for Slade's mind with his telepathic powers. So far there was nothing, which both pleased and slightly distressed Gunnar. He didn't really _want_ to find Slade, but he knew what would happen if he didn't.

So Gunnar kept walking, not particularly sure what to hope for.

Slade jumped over a low patch of brambles, kicking off the ground at a shallow angle when he landed and then turning a hard right. Slade started to tire slightly after a few more minutes of running at his top speed, and so he slowed to a brisk walk. _I _definitely_ like this morph._ Turning left, Slade walked deeper into the forest.

He could smell that there was a river nearby, so Slade started to follow the scent of flowing water. He soon arrived at a largish stream, a line of waterlogged rocks straddled the stream, making it possible for someone to cross from one bank to the other simply by jumping from one rock to the next.

Slade scanned his surroundings, liking his new morph even though it wasn't that much faster or stronger than his normal form. _Okay, so Cassie said that I could only stay in any one morph for only two hours. Since there's no way to tell time out in this wilderness, I might as well demorph now._

Suiting actions to thoughts, Slade started demorphing. Once he was human again, Slade started to remorph into a panther. As soon as he had finished his morph, Slade raced across the river.

Gunnar had just reached what he thought was the halfway point between the large structure that Darkon had barely seen through Slade's eyes, and the Radam base that was hidden in the forest. Gunnar had thought he sensed something out this way but now the faint signal, if it had even been there at all, had disappeared.

__

I suppose I could consider that a good thing, Gunnar thought morosely, looking around at the trees. Gunnar had often thought about turning around and heading back to the base, but he knew that Darkon would most likely probe his mind, at least superficially, and Gunnar had no great desire to suffer any of the more painful manifestations of Darkon's temper. Once had been more than enough.

Gunnar shook his head, and kept walking.

Slade and Gunnar were now separated by only six feet of heavily wooded forest. The two of them sensed the other only dimly, and so didn't go off their paths looking for one another. Slade, because he didn't really know what he was sensing, and Gunnar because he didn't think a signal that weak could be anything important.

The two of them passed each other and thought nothing of it, neither of them even seeing the other.


	58. Disturbing Information

Tobias had just arrived at the barn. Looking around, he found that no one was in the barn, not even Slade. Tobias flapped around the barn calling to Slade, trying to convince himself that he had just missed spotting him. But in the end, Tobias had to admit that there was no way his hawk's eyes could have missed someone Slade's size.

__

This isn't good. I don't even want to think about what might happen if what happened to Slade last night happens again. Cassie? Tobias called, hoping that she was near enough to hear him. Can you come out to the barn?

For five minutes, Tobias received nothing in the way of an answer. But then Cassie came striding back into the barn.

"What is it, Tobias?"

Slade's missing. Do you have any idea where he might have gone?

"No," Cassie cocked her head, thinking. "Why are you so worried, I think he can take care of himself."

It's not him I'm worried about. Something happened last night, something I think all of you should know about.

"Well, the others should be arriving soon, so why don't we wait for them? That way you won't have to repeat yourself."

Good idea.

After the two of them had finished talking, a Peregrine falcon fluttered into the rafters of the barn. Swooping down to the hay-strewn floor only after it had found a suitable landing area. Jake started demorphing immediately once he was on level ground, shooting up to his normal height and losing all the features of his bird form.

Once Jake was done demorphing, the other Animorphs quickly flew inside. Rachel was the first of the second group to start demorphing, followed by Marco and Ax.

"So," Rachel began. "What are we going to do about these Horse-Controllers?"

That can wait, Tobias said. I have some more important things to tell you guys.

"What is it, Tobias?" Jake asked.

Last night, Slade left the barn, actually he ran out. But that wasn't the weirdest part. When I tried to talk to him he ignored me. Entirely. And his eyes were glowing green; that was one of the creepier parts of the night.

"What happened after that?" Rachel asked.

He attacked me.

"He did _what_?" Jake demanded, standing up suddenly from his position lounging on one of the hay-bales scattered around on the barn floor.

He had some kind of weird sword-thing that he pulled out of nowhere, Tobias said, flapping a wing to work off some of the tense energy that the memory of the battle with Slade stirred up. It was like he was a completely different person.

"I can't believe that he would _do_ something like that," Rachel said, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes. "He seemed like such a nice guy, even if he was a little strange."

__

That was not Slade's true personality.

Jake's head snapped up, looking for the source of that telepathic voice even though he knew now that he wouldn't find it. _How do you know that, Starfire?_

I have fought the Radam all of my long life, and I have a very good memory.

Can the others hear you? Jake asked.

__

Not as yet, but they will soon.

The other Animorphs were all staring at Jake with varying degrees of worry evident on their faces.

"What happened, Jake?" Cassie asked. "You looked like you were a million miles away a second ago."

Whatever Jake might have said was destined to be ignored in light of the new, mistlike, transparent figure that was taking shape in the middle of the barn. The figure was tall, seemingly even topping Jake in height. As far as the other Animorphs could see, this new figure was human.

Jake knew better, though. Even when most of his features were either hard to make out or completely missing, Jake knew that this was the Tekkaman Starfire.

"What is that?" Marco wondered aloud. "Is that some new form that the Ellimist is trying out?"

Before anyone else could say so much as a single word, there was a flash of bright blue light from the region of the figure's eyes, and then…


	59. Starfire speaks

__

Jake recognized this place. The railing, the entrance to the hallway in the background, and the countless stars visible through the gaps in the railing and in place of the missing ceiling.

The other Animorphs, however, had their own suspicions about where they had ended up.

"All right, Ellimist, come on out," Rachel ordered, only partially joking. "What do you want to tell us now?"

I am not this 'Ellimist' that you speak of,_ Starfire said, as he faded slowly into visibility._

"All right then," Marco said tolerantly. "Just who," he looked Starfire up and down. "And what are_ you?"_

"Guys," Jake said, drawing the attention of his fellow Animorphs. "This is Tekkaman Starfire. He was the one who told me about Slade in the first place."

"Oh," Cassie said, looking again at the silent Tekkaman who stood in front of them, leaning against the railing and watching them with detached interest. "You told Jake about Slade?"

A nod. I did.

__

"Okay, so maybe you can tell us what's wrong with him," Marco said, looking sideways at Starfire.

Starfire, likewise slanted a glance at Marco. There is nothing physically or mentally wrong with Slade.

__

"Then, what happened to him?" Cassie asked, confused and worried. If the way he had acted last night was normal for Slade, then what about the way he had always acted around her?

You do not fully understand me,_ Starfire said, shaking his head. _There is nothing wrong with Slade. However, his mind is vulnerable to outside influences.

__

"What kind of outside influences?" Marco demanded.

A pair of bright crimson eyes appeared out of what seemed to be thin air, glowing sullenly for a few moments before fading out again.

"What the hell was that?!" Marco demanded, still unnerved by the eyes even though they had disappeared quite completely by then.

"It felt… evil," Cassie said, shuddering slightly.

Radam. Warlord caste._ Starfire answered, sounding more than a little shaken himself._

"Jake mentioned something about the Radam a couple days ago," Rachel commented. "What are they?"

The Radam are an ancient race. You may think of them as the precursors to the Yeerks that you now face. But the Radam are several times more powerful than the Yeerks.

__

I can attest to that, Tobias said, shuddering slightly. I could barely lay a hand on Slade when I fought him last night.

Starfire turned his attention to Tobias, after the hawk had made that statement. You would have died, if not for your own quick thinking. It is not often that one such as yourself survives a fight with a Radam Teknoman. However, the fact remains that Slade is still greatly ignorant of the extent of his own powers.

__

"What are his powers?" Cassie asked.

He is a Radam Teknoman,_ Starfire explained._ Therefore he is stronger, faster, and more agile than any normal member of your race could ever hope to be. Slade is one of the lower caste of Teknomen, known as an Enforcer. They are not nearly as fast or as agile as their brethren, those of the Hunter caste, but their great strength somewhat makes up for this discrepancy.

__

"Okay," Jake said. "So far you've mentioned two of these castes. What are these warlords you mentioned earlier?"

None of our kind is truly sure that those of the Warlord caste should even be considered a true caste. They seem to have very little in common with one another. Some of them look as if they could easily belong to the Hunter caste, while others seem to be merely larger versions of Enforcers.

__

"Okay, so you've told us about the two or three 'castes' that these Radam have," Marco said, giving Starfire a look of considered skepticism. "Care to show us some of these Teknomen?"

You do not believe me._ Starfire's words were not an accusation, merely a flat statement of fact, so Marco didn't feel any particular need to respond._

The entire expanse that they could see shifted, moving up into the star-studded sky above their heads and subtly changing color. None of the Animorphs could figure out why Starfire had done this, not even Jake, who had the small advantage of knowing Starfire for a bit longer than his friends.

All of a sudden… he appeared. There were no real features to suggest that this new apparition was either a male or a female, but the overall impression was one of masculinity. The… whatever-he-was was white, and so he stood out very clearly against the black background of space. There were other colors on parts of his body, but white was by far the most prominent.

He was holding some kind of long staff in his left hand. The staff was almost as tall as he was, and was topped with what looked like a metallic crescent moon. The figure had sleek lines, and looked like he was built more for speed than power.

Kureishi. A Hunter Teknoman.

__

The now-named Teknoman Kureishi turned and jetted away, leaving a streak of red light to mark his passing.

Another Teknoman soon appeared, though whether the Animorphs' vantagepoint had changed or whether this new Teknoman was simply coming to replace the absent Kureishi wasn't an easy thing to figure out. This new Teknoman was built a lot like Kureishi, but only as far as the sleek lines and angles of the armor.

The new Teknoman was mostly light gray, with some darker armoring on the lower arms and legs. He also looked like he had wings.

Niku, also a Hunter Teknoman.

__

Teknoman Niku didn't seem to have any weapons, but if what Tobias had said earlier was anything to go on, Niku might have just have had his hidden somewhere. Teknoman Niku was only visible for a second or two longer than Teknoman Kureishi, but Niku didn't fly off the way Kureishi had, he merely disappeared.


	60. Hypothesis

Has that been enough, or shall I show you more?_ it was a simple question, asked in the tone of one who did not care too deeply about what the answer would be._

"No. No, I think that's enough, Starfire," Cassie said, shuddering.

The rest of the Animorphs agreed with that sentiment, and so Starfire took them back to where they had been before.

There is much more to know about the Radam, but I trust that you are intelligent enough to find the rest of it out on your own.

__

There was a sparkle of bright blue light; the entire area wavered like it was a liquid; and… the Animorphs were suddenly right back in the barn where they had started, if they had really even left at all.

"Who here found that just a little too strange to handle?" Marco asked.

Most of the Animorphs raised their hands, but Ax seemed to be considering something.

"Ax, what are you thinking about?" Cassie asked, noticing that Ax was being uncharacteristically silent.

That was some form of telepathic contact, the Andalite said, sounding as if he had just glimpsed the secrets of the universe.

"Telepathy?" Rachel asked, not sounding nearly as enthused. "How is that any different than thought-speak?"

As you have already learned, thought-speak diminishes in intensity with distance, somewhat like spoken speech, Aximili explained. But distance would not be an issue if we Andalites had somehow developed true telepathy. There is also a theory that some telepaths, particularly strong ones, can enter a person's mind and control their thoughts.

"Like the Yeerks?" Cassie asked, looking worried.

In some respects, yes, Aximili admitted reluctantly. But telepathy would not require a physical connection to their victim, unlike what the Yeerks have to use with their hosts.

Rachel sat up suddenly. "Slade's eyes glow green when he uses his telepathic powers, right Cassie?"

Cassie nodded. "Yeah. Do you think Slade could have been using his telepathic powers when he fought Tobias last night?"

"Maybe _they_ were using him," Marco suggested.

"This isn't the time for joking, Marco," Rachel said impatiently.

"What made you think I was?" Marco shot back.

"Some more information would be helpful," Jake said, cutting into the argument between Rachel and Marco before it could really start.

"Okay," Marco started to explain. "From what Starfire told us, these Radam are a super-powerful version of the Yeerks. With what we know from Cassie's experience with Slade, we know or at least can guess that most of the Radam are telepathic. And judging by what Jake and I saw down in that pit, Slade isn't the only one of his kind here on Earth. I think it would make sense that one of the other ones was controlling him, given how Tobias said he didn't seem like himself."

"Marco, that was… remarkably insightful," Rachel said, nodding in approval.

Marco smirked. "I have my moments."

"Okay, so now that we know what happened to Slade, what are we going to do about it?" Cassie asked.

"Why should we _do_ anything?" Rachel asked.

"Cassie has something there," Marco said, ignoring Rachel. "Now that we know how dangerous Slade can be, maybe we shouldn't be so quick to trust him."

Jake shook his head. "On his own, he hasn't made any moves against us. I don't think we should let our guard down entirely around him. But until he proves himself one way or the other, we'll treat him like any other member of the Animorphs."


	61. Comeback

Ax had started morphing into a human once he had finished telling the assembled Animorphs about the difference between thought-speak and real telepathy, just in case Cassie's parents came out near the barn or decided to look in. The one that the Animorphs had been speaking of soon arrived back in the barn, still in his panther morph. He took one look around at the assembled Animorphs, and was instantly curious.

Did I miss something? Slade asked.

"We were just going to start talking about how we might be able to follow that group of Horse-Controllers we spotted yesterday."

"I see you've got a new morph, Slade," Marco observed sardonically. "A big cat, how very original."

Blast off, space case, Slade shot back without any particular malice.

Cassie snickered as Slade began to demorph. After a few seconds of silence, Marco started laughing too. Once Slade had finished his demorph, he sat down on one of the few vacant hay-bales that bordered the work area of the barn. Cassie stood up once Slade had sat down, figuring that she might as well try to get some work done, now that all of the weirdness that Starfire had stirred up was now over with.

Heading over to a cage with a fox in it, the same fox who had watched her and four of the other Animorphs morph into birds in fact, Cassie took the fox out of his cage and gently cradled him in her arms. Taking a bottle of medicine from one of the large pockets in her overalls, Cassie tipped a pill into her hand, opened the fox's mouth, popped the pill inside, let the fox close his mouth and then blew on his nose to make him swallow the pill.

"So, how _are_ we going to follow a bunch of Horse-Controllers, anyway?" Slade asked, looking around at his fellow Animorphs.

"We morph horses, of course," Cassie said, sounding for all the world like she had been talking about this for a long time, rather then having just finished processing some radically different information.

"Horses?" Jake asked, thinking that over. "Didn't you morph a horse once, Cassie?"

"I did," Cassie said, nodding. "It was my first morph, and it's still one of my favorites. But we won't be able to use her, she's got distinctive markings. We can't exactly go walking around the Dry Lands looking identical."

"Identical horses," Marco mused. "Sweet Valley Horses. That could be a TV show, or at least a book."


	62. Plans and Problems

Slade rolled his eyes. Marco may have been a good strategist and the Animorphs' head of security, but he was still a goofball.

"Horses. Hore-hore-hore-sezuh," Aximili put in.

"Is that all you have to contribute, Ax? Or do you want to add something else to that?" Marco asked, looking at the now-morphed Andalite.

Slade was also looking at Ax, but his expression was one of sheer disbelief. _Is this guy nuts, or what?!_

"Horses are quadrupeds," Aximili continued. "Kwa-dro-peds. Peds. This is a much more sensible arrangement than tottering around on two rickety legs like humans do. Rickety, ri-kut-y. Rick-kuh-tee. Is that a funny word?"

"Yeah," Rachel said sarcastically, before Slade had a chance to put in his opinion. "'Rickety' is hysterical. Can we get down to business now? Where are there going to be seven different horses for us to morph?"

The Gardens, maybe? Tobias suggested.

Cassie shook her head. "The only thing they have at The Gardens are exotic horse breeds. We want horses who would look normal in the Dry Lands."

"What about some of the farms around here?" Jake asked.

"All of the people around here know me by sight," Cassie informed her friends, shaking her head again. "If they walked in on us while we were acquiring, or especially while we were demorphing… well I think you can guess what would happen if one of them was a Controller."

The rest of the Animorphs present, including Slade this time, nodded. They all knew what would happen if any Controller ever saw them demorphing.

Rachel sat up suddenly, snapping her fingers. "The racetrack! I should have thought of that before! They have a ton of horses out there, a couple dozen at least. My dad took me there last weekend, it's his idea of a fun outing for his daughters on visitation day."

"Did he let you bet?" Marco asked.

"Yeah. Well, he placed it for me. Two dollars on Chase Me Charly to show. He came in second, and I ended up winning three dollars," Rachel continued.

Cassie, and most of the others, all stared at Rachel after she had finished speaking. _You think you know a person…_ Cassie mused, not sure whether she wanted to chuckle or sigh.

"Humans bet?" Ax asked. "On horses? To see which one is faster? What do you bet?"

"Money, what else?" Marco asked.

"Oh yes. Mon-ney. Money. I keep forgetting about the human concept of money," Ax replied.

Jake looked at his watch, mildly annoyed, which was his usual reaction whenever the others didn't seem to be taking the situation seriously. "Okay, look, we'll go to the track. No one bets. We'll acquire some horse DNA, then fly out to the Dry Lands to spy on the modest horses."

"We're going to do that _again_?" Marco whined. "That's what we do _every _Saturday. When are we going to get to do something different?"

"Oh suck it up already, Marco," Slade said good-naturedly, smirking at the other boy. "At least we're going to do _something_."

"Put a sock in it, new-boy," Marco grinned back.

Can I ask a serious question? Tobias inquired.

"I don't know, can you?" Slade asked, with an obviously fake look of innocence.

Ha, ha, very funny Slade, if he could have, Tobias would have rolled his eyes at Slade's statement. What use would the Yeerks have for infesting the bodies of horses?

"That's a good question," Jake said, nodding thoughtfully.

"All of this has to be about Area 51. I mean, do you guys think it was just a coincidence that we spotted those Yeerk-infested horses just as we were leaving Area 51? I personally doubt it."

"It _was_ way too convenient," Slade said, leaning forward and crossing his arms.

"It may be about Area 51, but not in the way you think, Marco. Who knows what the Air Force could be doing out there," Cassie hypothesized. "Maybe they're testing some new super-weapon that the Yeerks are afraid of."

Ax laughed suddenly, drawing the attention of his fellow Animorphs. "A _human_ weapon that would frighten the Yeerks," he laughed for a few more minutes before finally managing to calm back down. In a more normal tone, Ax continued. "That is not possible. Sible. Pah-si-bull."

Cassie and most of the others felt a bit indignant on behalf of the human race, but even then they had to admit that Ax was probably right. Cassie picked up the thread of the conversation again. "Look, I just don't see why the Yeerks would care about some kind of alien ship that may or may not be hidden out there. It doesn't make sense. Unless… maybe they don't know if all those stupid conspiracy theories are true or not."


	63. Passing Information

"I have to confess that I don't really know what you are talking about," Ax said, looking around at the other Animorphs. "However, the Yeerks would be able to find out if there was something nonhuman-made anywhere on the surface of this planet. Their sensors would be able to do an analysis of the alloys. After all, while the Yeerks are not on the level of we Andalites, they aren't completely primitive either. They would be able to detect the presence of alloys, plastic composites, live metals – the things that spaceships are made of."

Jake looked apprehensive for a moment, before he started speaking. "You know, it would be really weird if this whole conspiracy thing turned out to be true. I mean, what if the government really _has_ been using Area 51 to cover up the remains of a crashed spaceship?"

"What is an Area 51?" Ax asked.

"For one thing, I'd have to apologize to Marco," Rachel said, ignoring Ax's question. "But for another, maybe whatever it is they have hidden out at Area 51 would help them uncover the secrets of the Yeerks' technology."

"Well, first things first," Jake said. "We have to acquire some horse DNA at the racetrack before we can go find out what those Horse-Controllers are up to at Area 51."

"And, what exactly is a racetrack?" Ax asked. "Zactly?"

"Not now, Ax," Jake said, waving away the Andalite's question like it was an annoying fly. "We have to get to the track quickly. What morph would you suggest, Cassie?"

"Well, I think our usual bird-of-prey morphs would be a little too obvious for this," Cassie said. "We'll want not to be noticed, and there might be bird-watches on some of the way to the racetrack. I think we should all go seagull."

Those of us that have seagull morphs, anyway, Tobias said.

"All right," Jake said, nodding. "Let's get started."

Every one of the Animorphs, with the obvious exception of Ax, Slade and Tobias, started shedding their day clothes. Once they were all in their morphing outfits, the seven of them started to morph into their respective bird forms.

Human flesh became tattooed with the patterns of uncountable, perfectly formed feathers. The tattoos soon formed real feathers, and the few Animorphs that hadn't started shrinking by now soon caught up to their friends. In a few minutes, four seagulls, a hawk, a harrier, and a raven stood in place of the seven Animorphs.

The Animorphs started their running take-offs, the flapping of their wings soon pushing them into the air. Four of the Animorphs, those who had morphed into seagulls, regrouped in the air above the barn once they were outside.

All right, Tobias said. The three of us without seagull morphs will have to stay far enough away from you four so it won't look like we're all together.

I guess you know best, Tobias, Jake conceded.


	64. Setting out

The four seagulls gathered into a small flock, with the other birds following along a good distance behind. Slade didn't know precisely why it was that they shouldn't all be seen together, but Tobias seemed to know what he was talking about, and so Slade decided that it was best not to question his judgement.

Once the Animorphs were out of sight of the barn and flying off toward the distant city, Slade noticed something.

Why are you guys flying so low? Slade asked of the four seagulls.

Slade didn't get an answer, but he did overhear something else. Something that didn't make any sense at all, as far as he was concerned.

Look, a Butterfinger wrapper! Marco shouted, more excited than Slade thought anyone would be over seeing some garbage. I think there might even be some left!

Huh? Slade asked, looking down at the ground. I don't see any Butterfinger wrappers. What are you guys talking about?

Again, there was no answer to Slade's question. It was Rachel who spoke next.

Look at that Burger King Dumpster! Oh man, it's _loaded_ with french fries and leftover burger!

Slade was getting more confused with every word the four other Animorphs said. What are you guys going on about? What's so exciting about a bunch of garbage?

Again, Slade received no answer. Cassie was the next one to speak, and Slade thought she would at least be a little more rational than the others. Apparently, Slade had thought wrong.

Oh! Oh! Oh! Look, there's some cheese puffs!

Guys? Slade asked. No one paid him any attention.

No way! Marco enthused. Someone threw out a half-eaten chicken leg! Extra crispy!

Wouldn't that almost be cannibalism? Cassie asked.

Uh, guys? Slade tried again. And again he received no answer.

Didn't we have this conversation before? Rachel asked.

Hey, it's extra crispy, Marco reiterated. I love extra crispy!

Guys! Slade shouted, finally getting fed up with subtlety and going for sheer volume. What are you _talking_ about?!

Oh! We're sorry for ignoring you, Slade, Cassie said. These seagull minds can be pretty powerful. The instincts, I mean.

Aren't you having some trouble with that yourself, Slade? Rachel asked. This _is_ only the second time you've morphed that raven, after all.

I really just ignore it, Slade said matter-of-factly.

Ignore it? Marco asked, surprised. How?

I just block it out, Slade said, not getting why this would be so confusing to the other Animorphs.

Okay, so how do you 'just block it out'? Marco demanded, beginning to get annoyed with Slade's seemingly evasive answers.

I don't know, I just do, Slade answered, not knowing why Marco sounded so impatient.


	65. Something Unforeseen

Marco sighed. I swear Slade, sometimes trying to get answers from you is like talking to a brick wall.

Sorry, Slade said, not really knowing what he had done wrong, but figuring he should apologize just the same.

Slade- Marco began again, but was quickly interrupted by Jake.

We're over the track now, he informed the rest of the Animorphs.

Anyone see a good place to demorph? Rachel asked.

There must be some empty stalls in those barns. Just fly in and land, Tobias said.

Or maybe we could go check out the trash behind the clubhouse, Marco suggested, not quite joking.

Seagulls. You guys might as well be pigeons, Tobias sneered.

What do pigeons have to do with anything? Slade asked, confused.

Nobody answered him, and so Slade decided to drop the subject. The Animorphs flew in low and fast over one of the large barns that edged the left side of the racetrack. Two rows of horse stalls had been built parallel to one another, with one half-door opening to the outside and the one opposite it opening into a long, semi-wide hallway that separated the first row of stalls from the second. As predicted, most of the stalls were indeed empty.

Turning with the sheer speed and agility that was common to all seagulls, Cassie flew in through the open door of an empty stall. Landing on the none-too-clean hay, Cassie took a long look around. Once she was satisfied that no one was around to see them demorphing, Cassie called out to the other Animorphs still waiting in the sky.

It looks okay in here, she said.

The rest of the Animorphs were very quick about following Cassie into the stall they had seen her fly into. Soon, all seven Animorphs were gathered together inside the stall. Once they had all landed, the seven of them moved a fair distance apart and started to demorph.

All right everyone, demorph, Jake ordered, apparently not noticing that some of the others had already started to do just that. Tobias? Do you want to morph human or just stay as you are now?

I'll have to stay in my hawk form if I want to acquire a horse, Tobias said. In fact, while you guys finish demorphing, I think I'll go find a horse I like.

It was something Cassie hadn't thought of when she had told the other Animorphs that they could demorph inside this stall, but there was always the chance that someone would walk into the barn while they were demorphing. Thankfully, none of the barn attendants came inside while the Animorphs were still somewhere between their normal forms and their animal morphs.

However, two old men _did_ walk in once the six were finished with their most drastic changes. What the men saw were four youngish teenagers, one teen who looked noticeably older than the rest, and something that looked like a small horse that had been painted blue. Needless to say, the old men were very surprised.

Cassie was the one who had noticed them first, so she was the one they seemed to address their question to.

"What the he… what are you kids doing in that stall? And, what in the name of all that's holy is _that_ thing?"


	66. Runaround

Cassie nearly swallowed her tongue. She had forgotten the fact that while five of them would demorph into perfectly normal-looking humans, Ax would end up in his fantastically exotic-looking Andalite body. The black feathers of Slade's raven morph blended in quite well with his black hair and nearly black shorts, but for the rest of the Animorphs, the remaining white seagull feathers couldn't have been any more obvious.

"Ax! Stay behind us and keep your head down!" Cassie hissed in a low voice, her jaw barely moving. As if she was a ventriloquist.

Moving quickly but subtly, Cassie managed to place herself between the two old men's line of sight and Aximili's tail.

"I asked what you kids are doing in that stall," the first man, the one without a cigar sticking out of his mouth, asked.

"Umm," Cassie scrambled to think of an answer. "We were just… grooming our horse?"

"Our _horse_?" Rachel asked, confused at first, but soon she had caught on. "Oh, yeah, that's just what we were doing. We were grooming our horse."

"That thing's kind of scrawny for a horse," the man with the cigar in his mouth said, gesturing to Ax. "What are you feeding that poor, swaybacked nag?"

"Horse food," Marco said.

"Horse food?" the first man asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah. Um… you know, horse food. Boy, you should see how much this little guy can eat. All day long I'm opening cans of horse food and filling his dish."

Cassie's forced laugh sounded more like a scream, but the two men didn't seem to notice or care. Cassie thought that they were probably too busy trying to think up a suitable response to what Marco had just said.

"He's such a kidder!" Cassie shrilled, trying somehow to not make her near-panic so obvious. "Of course we haven't been feeding our horse food from _cans_. We've been feeding him alfalfa and hay, like you would feed any horse. My friend here is such a goofball. Total joke machine."

"And, he's not exactly the brightest bulb in the socket," Rachel said.

Since he was standing more toward the left side of the stall, while Cassie and Rachel were more toward the right, Marco knew that there was no way for him to 'accidentally' step on Rachel's foot or dig his elbow into her ribs without being noticed. He might have tried to get Slade or one of the others to do it for him, but Slade was farther away from him than Rachel and Cassie were, and Marco doubted that any of the others would do it for him.

"He's not really stupid," Cassie corrected, while Marco silently thanked her. "He just has a habit of not taking things seriously."

"Your horse is blue," the man without the cigar said, turning his attention away from Marco and back to Cassie. "Never seen a blue horse before, not in all the time I've worked here."

"Nor have I," the man with the cigar said. "And I've been working here a lot longer than he has. I've also never seen a bunch of kids wearing feathers on their clothes."

"We… we like blue horses," Cassie said sheepishly.

"Someday all horses will be blue," Jake said flatly.

"All right, all of you kids get out of that stall," the man with the cigar said, taking his cigar out of his mouth and pointing to them with it. "This just ain't right, there ain't no part of this that's right. Why don't you kids just come out of that stall, so we can see just what's ---"

He didn't even get to finish his sentence, before Ax made two quick cuts into the thick wooden beam above the heads of the men in front of them. Cassie shouted for him to stop, but she was too late to stop what happened next. The beam, now severed from its supports, collapsed on top of the two men, knocking them unconscious.

"Run!" Jake yelled, just as he saw the two men fall to the ground.

The six Animorphs all piled out of the stall, most of them taking care not to step on the prone forms of the old men. Tobias happened to fly by just as they were leaving the stall. Seeing the two old men on the ground, and the way his friends were hurrying, trying to get out of their way before the old men regained consciousness.

(I leave you guys alone for five minutes, and look what happens!) Tobias exclaimed, not sure himself if he was serious or not.

(This isn't really the time to get into that, Hawk-boy,) Slade said tightly, vaulting over the low wall of the stall.

"Get them! Stop those kids!" one of the other workers shouted, having evidently spotted the Animorphs now that they were outside the relative safety of the stall.

Jake, his mind working faster as it always did when he or his friends were in danger, quickly came up with something that he was more or less sure would get them all out of danger. "Everybody out to the grandstands," Jake said tightly, directing his words to his friends and no one else. "We can lose them after we blend in with the crowds."

Jake was a little breathless after that, equally from demorphing, running, and speaking at the same time. Jake just hoped that the rest of the Animorphs would have the sense to finish their demorphs while they were running as well. It wouldn't do for another person to see the feathers that still clung to their bodies. Especially since, in this large a crowd, some of them were more than likely to be Controllers.

Slade was just behind Cassie, which was the way he liked it since he couldn't protect her very well if he didn't know where she was, when the door to one of the stalls slammed open in front of them. Slade was just about to scoop Cassie up and vault over the stall door, when Cassie tripped over something. Looking again, Slade saw that Cassie hadn't in fact tripped, she had been pulled down.

That was not something that Slade was going to let go lightly. Turning halfway around, which gave him a good enough view of Cassie's attacker, Slade slammed his heel into the head of the boy who had grabbed her ankle. Jerking back in pain, the guy let her go to clutch at his own head.

"Go!" Slade shouted, careful not to use Cassie's name. They were surrounded by enemies here; so it was best that he didn't give them any more information then they already had, which was almost nothing.

Nodding her thanks, Cassie dashed around the jutting stall door and out of Slade's line of sight. Slade hoped that Cassie had found herself somewhere good to hide, but with the mob of assorted track workers closing in on his position, Slade knew that his first concern should be his own safety. _I hope you make it through this okay, Cassie,_ Slade thought to himself.

The mob was getting closer, so Slade decided to take a more… creative path to get away from them. Vaulting into a closed, empty stall, Slade turned right and leaped over the low wall that was now in front of him. Continuing this way for five more jumps and landing in a ready crouch, Slade found that he couldn't hear his pursuers' footfalls.

That didn't mean that he was safe, Slade knew, since there was still a chance that someone was looking for him and he just couldn't hear them. Deciding to take a bit of a chance, Slade rolled out of his crouching position and crawled over to the door-side wall of the stall. Peeking out over the lowish wall, Slade saw that there were three people just about to look in his direction.

Ducking back down, Slade knew that there was very little chance of him being able to get over the next wall without being seen, and probably captured. Slade didn't know what they would do to him if they managed to catch him, and he wasn't at all eager to find out. _How do I get out of this?_ Slade demanded of himself.


	67. Hiding in plain sight

The situation he was now in was almost the farthest thing from an ideal place to learn something new about his powers, but the uncertainty and just-blooming fear that Slade was feeling would prove to be the perfect catalysts to activate another of his Radam-given abilities. All that Slade noticed at first was that his vision was starting to go gray at the edges.

Slade didn't understand how that could be happening, since he was breathing normally, and as far as he knew this kind of thing only happened to people who were starting to pass out from lack of oxygen. Slade wasn't holding his breath, and none of the other racetrack staff seemed to be affected by this problem, if there even was one to begin with.

By the time one of the workers looked into the stall Slade was hiding in, Slade himself was completely colorblind. And, although he didn't know it at the time, completely invisible to anyone not wearing infra-red goggles. Slade was just sitting there, completely in the open as far as he knew, and willing to act as a distraction so that some of the others might be able to get what they had originally come to this place for.

When he saw that the man looking into the stall not only didn't seem to care that he was in there, but also told the other workers who were presumably looking for him that there was no one in the stall he was very obviously occupying, Slade wondered just what was going on.

Could this one actually be on his side? Or was this just some kind of a clever trick to get him to reveal himself? Slowly easing himself into a high crouch, Slade peered over the walls of the stalls. When no one raised any kind of alarm, Slade eased himself higher. Again, no one seemed to notice him. Standing up, Slade saw that no one was even looking in his direction.

Resisting the sudden urge to call out to them, Slade turned and vaulted over the next wall. In that stall was a nice looking dark-brown horse. _Well, I suppose this one's as good as any other,_ Slade mused, placing his hands on the horse's side.

Once he was finished acquiring the horse's DNA, Slade saw that there was a man coming into the stall with the dark-brown horse.

"C'mon Tempest Rider, we've got us a race to win," the man said, not taking any notice of Slade, even though he was standing right next to the now-named Tempest Rider.

As Slade watched the man and horse walk out of the stall, he decided that now was not the time to question his apparent good luck. Starting his raven morph, Slade did wonder a bit at how the workers had originally spotted the Animorphs, when they seemed to be so oblivious.


	68. Twin Horses

Cassie, meanwhile, had managed to stumble into an equally dangerous situation. She was now standing face-to-nose with a large golden-brown stallion.

"Take it easy, boy," Cassie whispered to the stallion, not wanting to be trampled by the horse. "Easy boy, easy does it,"

The stallion was not calming down, however, and Cassie knew that it was only a matter of time before the horse's owner or some other worker came into the stall to see what was making the horse so uneasy. Cassie decided that the only way she would be able to get out of this situation without being caught by the workers would be to morph into the horse.

Pressing her hands against the stallion's smooth coat, Cassie felt the animal slip into the usual acquiring trance, and imagined that she could feel his DNA flowing into her body. Once she was done with the acquiring process, Cassie backed away from the stallion.

"One of those kids is still inside." Cassie heard one of the workers say from somewhere not so far away. "What happened to that black haired one?"

"We lost him in the stalls. I don't know how, but we did. That other guy must still be in here somewhere. I don't think he managed to get out."

For a moment, Cassie thought that they were talking about one of the others. That Jake or Marco or even Ax had been spotted somewhere inside by the attendants. Then she realized that the voices of the workers were coming her way, and Cassie felt a slight flame of anger grow inside her.

__

They think I'm a guy_?! _She shrieked silently. _Okay, so Rachel keeps telling me that this morphing outfit I wear isn't all that fashionable, but still, a guy?!_ Cassie snorted, sounding almost like a horse herself, before she started morphing.

The physical changes were pretty much what Cassie had expected, having morphed a horse several times before today. She was less than halfway morphed when she heard the trumpet fanfare that announced the start of one of the races.

"Start searching every stall!" one of the men shouted. "Who knows what those kids have been doing to the horses. They've already managed to turn one horse blue!"

"If we're going to do it like that, then we'd better hurry it up," another one of the workers said. "The first race has already started."

Cassie clamped down on her rising panic, focussing her mind on her morph. The changes were coming more quickly now, but the bangs of doors being slammed open and shut were getting closer every second. Cassie figured that she had two minutes of good time, if that. Blocking out all the things she heard, or even thought she heard, Cassie concentrated on the change.

Cassie yelped when she saw the flesh of her hands seem to melt right off, exposing the gleaming white bones underneath.

"What was that?" one of the other workers demanded. "I think I heard someone! Over at the end of the hall!"

"Just keep searching the stalls," the first man said calmly. "There ain't no way that any more of those kids is going to get out of here."

Meanwhile, the horse in the stall with Cassie was starting to get very agitated. He didn't know exactly what was happening, but the fact that the scent of the strange girl standing beside him was changing so rapidly and drastically was enough to put him off. Cassie tried to reassure him, but just as she had almost finished speaking, one of her most drastic changes begun.

Cassie's entire face seemed to explode in slow motion; her nose and mouth stretching out to form a foot-long muzzle. Cassie had long since lost the ability to stand on two legs, and once the changes to her face had been completed, Cassie felt the horse's tail sprout like some fast-growing weed at the far end of her body.

The first thing Cassie noticed about this morph was that the eyesight, while not nearly as bad as that of any of the insects she had morphed, wasn't exactly what she would call good. Oddly enough, the reaction of both the racehorse next to her and her own horse mind was just the opposite of what she had expected.


	69. Sensory Data

They were instead very calm, even seeming to forget that there was another horse in the stall. _Okay, I can do this,_ Cassie reassured herself._ There's only a few things that I have to do. I have to get out of this barn so I can demorph, then I have to find the others without being caught by any of the workers. Okay, that's three things I need to do. I might as well get started._

Since she knew that there was no way for her to be subtle, what with a big horse's head sticking out over the top of the stall, so Cassie decided that getting out of this place fast was more important than trying to be quiet about it. Walking up to the stall door, Cassie stuck her head out over the rim of the door and grasped the bolt of the lock in her teeth.

Sliding the bolt from the 'locked' to the 'unlocked' position, Cassie walked out into the hallway. _Okay, now all I have to do is act normal, and I'll probably be able to get out of here._ Inwardly, Cassie chuckled, a _normal_ person wasn't too likely to fly into a barn, get caught by the workers, and then try to escape as a horse.

Since Cassie's horse body was quite large, she knew it was only a matter of time before someone spotted her. The workers weren't blind after all, and neither were they particularly stupid. Walking down the hallway, Cassie saw one of the workers turning to look at her.

"What the -? Oh my god, that's Minneapolis Max! How did he get out of his stall? Someone's going to catch hell for this, I'm sure. Hey! Someone get me his gear before Max here starts raising Cain!"

"Hey, Bruno!" another man's voice sounded from behind her. "There's another -"

Bruno quickly cut him off. "Stop jawing and get me his gear! You should know what stallions are like by now!" Turning to Cassie, Bruno smiled at her and patted the side of her head. "Hey boy, you knew you were in this race, so you decided to come out early. That's my boy! That's my champion, Minneapolis Max!"

Cassie had never been very interested in horse racing, but even she knew the name Minneapolis Max. Max was the horse that was supposed to win the Kentucky Derby.

"C'mon boy, let's go. We've got us a race to win."

The process of getting Cassie saddled and bridled for the race took almost the same amount of time that Cassie took getting her own horses ready when she wanted to ride them. The track workers did a bit more brushing then Cassie usually did, so it did take a little longer.

Once she was fully geared-up, a jockey wearing a red-and-green racing outfit climbed up onto her back. He needed some assistance, of course, since Cassie – and by extension Minneapolis Max – was a fairly tall horse. With the jockey now safely seated on her back, Cassie was led out to the racecourse itself.


	70. Discovery

As she walked, Cassie found it was nearly impossible for her to forget the scent of the dark-brown stallion she had smelled inside the barn. Something _did_ manage to distract her for more than a few moments, or rather, some_one_ managed to.

(Cassie, this is Tobias. I've managed to check in with all the others by now. They're all fine, so you're the last person I haven't heard from by now. If you can give me some kind of signal and let me know where you are.)

(Tobias, it's good to hear from you again,) Cassie said. (I'm glad to know the others have all gotten out okay. You said you managed to make contact with all the others, could you tell Slade that I said thank you for what he did back in the stalls?)

(Hey, you must be in morph to be thought-speaking!) Tobias exclaimed, surprised. (As for Slade, he's in raven morph. So why don't you tell him for yourself?)

(Slade, can you hear me?) Cassie asked.

(I'm here, Cassie,) came Slade's reassuring answer. (What do you need?)

(I just wanted to thank you for saving me back in the stalls, Slade,) Cassie said. (It might not have gone so well if you hadn't been there to help.)

(I'm just glad you made it out of there all right. You mean a lot to me, little sister,) Slade said fondly.

Cassie felt warm inside for a few seconds, then the rest of what Slade had said caught up with her. (Slade, what did you call me?)

(What?) Slade seemed to be genuinely confused.

(What did you just say?) Cassie asked.

(I said I was glad that you made it out of that place,) now Slade seemed to be utterly lost. He'd just expressed perfectly normal concern for her welfare, so why did she sound so confused?

(You just called me your little sister,) Cassie explained.

(I did?) Once again, Slade seemed utterly lost.

(Forget it,) Cassie said, deciding that she wouldn't press the issue any further. It _had_ been a little confusing for her to hear Slade call her his little sister, but he'd seemed to have forgotten about the whole thing. So Cassie figured there was no real point in trying to remind him about his little slip-up.

(In any case,) Tobias said, a little unnerved by Slade's slip but figuring that finding out where Cassie had ended up was more important than most things Slade might say. (Where are you by now? And _what_ are you by now?)

(I'm down on the track,) Cassie said with a mental sigh. (As for what morph I'm in, I'm the horse who's being led up to the starting gate. The horse with the number twenty-four on both sides, the one whose jockey is wearing red-and-green racing silks. You see me now?)

(Oh, Cassie you _didn't_,) Tobias said, with equal amounts of disbelief and incredulous humor in his silent voice.

(I'm afraid I did, Tobias.)

(How did you manage _this _little mishap?)

(It's a very long story, Tobias. And one I don't have time for right now. I have a race to run.) With those parting words, Cassie trotted off toward the starting gates.


	71. A Day at the Races

Cassie was getting a bit agitated by now. Her rider wasn't the problem, since she was barely aware of his presence on her back. It was the bit in her mouth that was making her mad, that and the scents of all the other stallions so close by. One scent in particular, that of the dark-brown stallion that she had been so annoyed by earlier, stuck with her and made her more angry. She snorted at the stallion, who by bad luck or chance had ended up in the lane right next to her.

"Easy boy, easy does it," Cassie's rider said, pulling back on the reins attached to Cassie's bridle.

Cassie ignored him. But the lone boy edging his way though the thronging racing fans at the stands around the track did manage to catch her attention. It was Marco, with a look on his face that suggested he'd just discovered the secret to eternal life, or something of that caliber.

(Take it easy, Marco. It's just me, there's nothing to worry about.)

"Who says I'm worried?" Marco's grin grew wider. "I'm wondering if you're going to win. I've got five bucks that I could bet on you!"

A few of the patrons at the track rolled their eyes at Marco's antics, and some of them raised their eyebrows at his style of dress. But for the most part, they ignored him.

(Ha-ha, very funny Marco.)

Cassie walked on, then the jockey started to pull on her reins, digging the toe of his boot into her right side. Cassie thought about what he might want, using her human mind. After all, while she may have had the inborn instincts of a horse, she didn't have any of the professional training of the racehorse she had morphed. Hence the need for consideration.

Figuring out that what her rider wanted her to do was walk up to the starting gates, Cassie did so. Once she had gotten to the gates she saw that the man with the cigar, who had been one of the first people to spot the Animorphs when they had entered the barn, was standing almost right in front of her. Cassie was surprised to see him, but not at all worried that he might recognize her. She was a horse now, and what sane person who wasn't an Animorph would suggest that someone could change into a horse?

"Did you find those kids who were hanging around the stalls?"

"No," the man said with a disgusted flick of his cigar. "They all managed somehow to get away, though I'm not really sure how those last two guys managed it. I thought we'd have them for sure."

Cassie snorted at him, not pleased in the least to have been mistaken for a guy twice in one day.

"Max seems to be a little out of sorts today," Cassie's rider commented.

"He's always been a little balky at the gates," Cigar-man said, by way of explanation.

Cassie was substantially more aggravated than she ever remembered being on an Animorph mission, coupled with the fact that the horse mind within her own was getting really agitated by the scents of all the other stallions standing all around them. Cassie took the Cigar-man's words as a personal insult, even though that was not what he had meant when he had said them. Tossing her head proudly, Cassie walked calmly into the small stall that would hold her for the few seconds left before the race started.

That calm didn't last very long. Once Cassie had gotten inside stall, both she and the stallion mind saw it as a trap; somewhere that they would never be able to get out of. Panicking, Cassie reared up and kicked against the door in front of her, flailing her hooves wildly and neighing at the top of her voice.

"Whoa boy! Steady there, easy does it! Calm down, Max!"

Cassie was frustrated, nervous, and getting more and more angry. All things that added up to not being able to think clearly. When she looked back on this, then she would see more clearly what she should have done. But for now, Cassie wasn't thinking about secrecy or consequences.

(_You_ calm down, I'm the one who's jammed into a little box!)

Cassie did make sure to use private thought-speak, so perhaps she was thinking a little more clearly than her emotional state would have suggested.

"What the hell?! Who just said that?!" Cassie's rider, who's name was Morely, wailed.

All of the other jockeys just stared at him, so Morely just decided to pretend that he hadn't heard anything. That turned out to be easier than he thought it might be, since the race started a mere few seconds after he had heard those words. The gates snapped open at once, letting the excited horses finally thunder out onto the racetrack.

Cassie kicked out with her powerful leg muscles, stirring up a huge cloud of dust in her wake. Now, now that she was running, Cassie and the horse felt just fine. The scents of all the other horses had faded behind her, and so they had also faded from Cassie's thoughts. Running was all she cared about, and so running was what Cassie did. Morely sitting up on Cassie's back, tried to rein her in, to get her to conserve her limited strength for the end of the race.


	72. Win and Run

(Just forget about winning,) Cassie said calmly, now that she couldn't smell the other stallions. (The point here is not to win, the point is just to run.)

Somehow, Morely managed to keep his seat. Cassie noticed this, and was duly impressed by it. Soon enough though, she forgot about it, too absorbed in her running to think about things like that. Cutting across the paths of five other stallions, Cassie thought nothing of it. Now closer to the white-painted railing that marked the center of the racetrack, Cassie dug her hooves into the thicker dirt to keep herself from slipping as she turned.

Cassie was starting to tire now, and since she didn't care much about winning, she started slowing down. That is to say, Cassie didn't care much about the race until she saw the dark stallion who was edging closer and closer to her as she slowed down. It was the same dark-brown stallion whose scent had so infuriated her before the start of the race.

The look of defiant triumph in the stallion's dark eyes infuriated Cassie all over again.

"Don't you fade out on me now, talking horse!" Morely shouted, not caring who heard him anymore.

(You just hold on, Mr. Jockey!) Cassie shouted right back at Morely, kicking herself into another, higher speed that she hadn't been aware she had. (We're going to win this race!)

This proved to be much easier for Cassie to think of than for her to do. The other stallion's jockey had managed to conserve the energy of her horse, and was now closing the distance between her horse and Cassie. But Cassie had one distinct advantage over the dark-brown stallion running next to her: while she was physically a horse, she still had her human mind.

The instinct to slow down that a normal horse would have been unable to do anything but obey didn't carry nearly that kind of weight with Cassie. Cassie's human mind could override the directives of her horse mind, something that no non-Animorph could do. So instead of slowing down, Cassie sped up, pulling out ahead of the dark stallion.

The other stallion's jockey wasn't going to give up so easily, though, and she snapped the reins to make her horse speed up. Cassie saw this of course, and pushed herself even harder to get ahead. The jockey riding the dark-brown stallion wasn't about to be outdone like this, though. She snapped her reins harder this time, commanding her stallion to speed up.

Cassie's entire body was alive with the thrill of competition in a way she had never been before. She was going to win, and nothing was going to stop her! Certainly not some mere human. Stretching out her stride, Cassie began to put some more distance between herself and the other stallion. However, the other jockey was just as determined as Cassie was, snapping her reins and again closing the distance between her horse and Cassie.

They were almost to the finish line by now and with a last, nearly-desperate burst of energy, Cassie cleared the finish line a full two feet in front of her opponent. The cameras flashed, the crowd cheered, and the woman who had been riding the dark-brown stallion slid down off of his back. When Cassie's own rider did the same thing, they both took up the reins of their respective horses and led them off the track.

Cassie realized that she was being led to the Winner's Circle. That, and she now noticed that the announcer was talking. Probably had been for some time, but this was the first time that she had heard him.

"… What a photo finish, folks! It sure has been a long time since we had a race _this _close! Let's all give a big hand to Jamie Daniels and Morely Stevenson, our jockeys for this race! And of course to Tempest Rider and Minneapolis Max, their fan_tas_tic horses!"

Cassie kicked up her front hooves, scattering some of the loose-packed dirt of the Winner's Circle. This was the first time she had won any kind of physical contest. Sure, she was a horse right now, but a victory was still a victory as far as Cassie was concerned.

(Cassie, as soon as you can get away from those people, you'll need to meet up with the rest of us. All of the others have managed to acquire horse morphs by now, and they're waiting for you in the sky,) Tobias reported.

(All right, Tobias,) Cassie said. (I'll be there as soon as I can.)

Cassie felt – and smelled – a wreath made of sweet-smelling flowers being put around her neck. She watched as her jockey slid off her back, then walked around the perimeter of the Winner's Circle, waving to the crowds that had gathered there. Out of her right-side eye, Cassie saw the Cigar man coming, probably to lead her back to the stalls. Back to all the other horses. Back to where Minneapolis Max was waiting.

Cassie let him lead her away from the crowds, back out to the barn that the Animorphs had originally come into. There was, luckily, no one around either of the barns. Cassie knew this with a good amount of certainty. For one, Cassie didn't smell any new human scents, and for another, Cassie had already taken a look around. Just to be sure.

"Boy, you sure have a lot of energy today, Max," the Cigar man chuckled. "That's all right with me, though. That's probably why you just won!"

Cassie knew that, as a horse, there wasn't much chance of her leaving the Cigar man and getting away unseen. So, after he had led her away from the Winner's Circle, away from all those people, she decided to take a bit of a chance.

(Hey,) Cassie said, pitching her voice low enough that Cigar man wasn't likely to recognize her as a kid. (What's that over by the other barn? Hey, I think it's one of those kids!)

"What the blazes?!" Cigar man shouted, running over to the other barn and out of Cassie's line of sight.


	73. Hunting the Hunter

Cassie quickly took advantage of the Cigar man's absence, demorphing and morphing into her Osprey form at warp-speed. There was really nothing that she could do about the collection of tack that would end up lying on the ground in the place she had just left, without exposing herself to unnecessary danger by staying to put it away. Cassie was in the air and flying to meet her friends.

The others were waiting for her, of course.

(Good to see that you got out of there okay, Cass,) Jake said.

(It's good to _be_ out of there right now,) Cassie said emphatically. (I don't know what would have happened if that guy had seen another horse that looked just like me when he got back to the stall, but I'm fairly sure it wouldn't have been anything good.)

(All right, now that we're all done with _that_ little fiasco, let's get on over to the Dry Lands, shall we?) Marco suggested.

Meanwhile, Gunnar was just coming out of the forest. He'd been walking for some time now, not wanting to risk alerting Slade by trying to fly to his destination. He knew that Teknomen were sensitive enough to detect each other when they were transformed, and Gunnar didn't want to find out what Darkon would do to him if Slade managed to get away because of something he did.

Gunnar saw a patch of red through the trees. As he made his way toward it, Gunnar saw the patch become a bright red barn. Or, at least Gunnar guessed that the barn had once been bright red. The paint looked pretty weathered in a lot of places, even peeling in a few spots. Gunnar decided to check in with Darkon before he did anything else.

(Is this the place you saw, Darkon, sir?)

(Yes,) Darkon's reply was both prompt and brief. Which Gunnar was thankful for, since he really didn't like the feeling he got while Darkon was looking through his eyes.

His destination confirmed, Gunnar walked into the barn. What he saw inside was not at all what Gunnar had expected. There _were_ animals, but not cows or horses like he had been expecting. What animals there were, were kept in cages. And those were mostly a bunch of small woodland creatures.

Raccoons and squirrels and the like. There were even a few birds in the mix, but no humans. Or Teknomen, though Gunnar thought he'd spotted a wolf or two in the very back of the barn. Looking around the main floor for anything unusual, all that Gunnar came up with were some bags of feed and a lot of medical charts. Apparently, this place was some sort of wild animal hospital.

But, other than the people who were obviously taking care of the animals her, Gunnar could find no trace of anyone else staying here.

(There's nothing in this place but a bunch of sick animals,) Gunnar reported.

Darkon sighed in both disgust and annoyance, though the latter was more predominant in his voice when he finally answered. (_Very well then. I suppose Slade has simply moved on by now. None of our kind would stay very long in such a place. Return to base, I will call on you again if I have need of you.)_

Darkon's telepathic voice cut out abruptly, and Gunnar breathed a small sigh of relief. He had not been looking forward to facing Darkon if the Radam warlord had been angry at this development. Darkon was a dangerous enough creature when he was pleased. When he was angry though, Darkon could redefine the term "force of nature".

Looking around at the animal hospital one last time, Gunnar set off into the woods again.


	74. Flyover Again

This was the seventh time that Marco had brought this particular subject up, and the other Animorphs were quickly getting tired of hearing about it.

(All I'm saying, is think of how cool it would be-- )

Jake cut into Marco's sentence before the other boy could build up much momentum. (I don't think so, Marco,) he said, sounding a bit like Al from Home Improvement.

(We, or at least some of us, can morph into racehorses,) Marco continued as if no one had interrupted him. (Then, using our human intelligence, we figure out if we can win--- )

(Why don't you just give up already?) Rachel demanded.

Again, Marco pretended that he hadn't heard the interruption. (Then the ones who aren't morphing can go put money down on them.)

(Marco, that would be like the worst kind of cheating,) Cassie said. (It just wouldn't be right.)

As before, Marco went on without a hint of stopping. (First, we could just bet whatever it is that we've all saved up. Like, I've got twenty bucks already. Bet that at three-to-one odds, and we'll have sixty. Bet _that_ at the same odds, and we'll end up with a hundred and eighty. Then we can bet _that _and end up with five forty! Then sixteen hundred twenty! And after that, four thousand eight hundred and sixty bucks!)

(How do you _do_ that, Marco?!) Rachel demanded. (How can you multiply such huge numbers in your head that way? You're barely scraping by in math class.)

(It's a whole 'nother thing when you're multiplying money,) Marco said sagely. (Entirely different.)

(Whatever you say, Marco,) Rachel sighed.

(Look,) Marco began again. (All I'm asking you guys to do is consider the--- )

(We've heard it,) Slade cut in flatly. (We've heard all about the possibilities you want us to consider. You've been repeating the same old lines about seven thousand times by now. And I, for one, am starting to get really sick of hearing about these great plans of yours. So why don't you just shut up for a while?)

(_Amen_,) Rachel said emphatically.

(Hey, I think we might have just lucked out,) Tobias said, since he was the only one who hadn't been paying attention to the conversation, preferring to focus on the task at hand. (Look down there, I think that's the same herd of horses we saw here yesterday.)

(The potential Horse-Controllers?) Jake asked.

(Yeah. I recognize them, they're the same bunch we spotted on our way out of Area 51. Look at the way they're walking,) Tobias said.

Cassie turned her Osprey vision to look at the group of horses. They were indeed moving in a very peculiar fashion; almost like a line of well-trained soldiers rather than a group of wild animals. It _was_ a strange sight, to be sure, but there were also a smattering of normal wild horses alongside the unnaturally disciplined group. Cassie was the first to comment on this.

(It looks like the core group of Horse-Controllers has picked up a few tagalongs,) she said. (That makes sense, given what I've read about horses. The other horses wouldn't have any way of knowing that these others aren't normal horses. They probably just joined up with the Horse-Controllers because horses are genetically programmed to find safety in numbers.)

(And take a look at where they're headed,) Marco said grimly. (Right into the base. They're going to use those horse bodies to infiltrate Area 51. It makes sense, since we already found out that it's more than impossible to get a _human_ into Area 51. But horses, no problem. What normal person would suspect a horse?)


	75. Hide and Seek

(I think I understand what a racetrack is now,) Aximili said suddenly, having finished processing his hectic thoughts. (A place where horses chase each other in circles as humans scream at them. But you still have not told me what this Area 51 is.)

(I'll bet you know _all_ about what's going on at Area 51,) Marco said.

(Area 51 is supposedly where the government is keeping a spaceship that some people think they recovered from the desert in New Mexico,) Jake explained.

(Who are 'some people'?) Ax asked, curious and a little confused.

(People like Marco,) Rachel said derisively. (Nuts. Crackpots. Crazed conspiracy freaks. People who hang around on the 'Net and call themselves DarkTruth, or Phantom Warrior, or Cyber Shade, or something stupid like that.)

(Ah.) Aximili didn't understand much of what Rachel was talking about, not really, but since he suspected that this was some kind of human thing – and therefor inexplicable by logic – Aximili decided to 'drop the issue' as the humans said.

(If you want to infiltrate a heavily guarded Air Force facility, what better way could you find?) Cassie asked rhetorically, watching as the oddly mismatched herd of horses kept on walking. Slowly and inexorably they made their way toward Area 51. (I saw a bunch of horses wandering around inside the base when we flew over it yesterday.)

(And, conversely, if you want to keep tabs on a herd of known Horse-Controllers, what better way than to morph a horse?) Jake asked. (Fly on ahead, everyone. Then land and morph into whatever horse you acquired at the stables.)

(Well, if that's what we came here to do, let's get on with it,) Slade said.

(Power those wings, people,) Tobias said cheerfully. (We've got some serious flying to do.)

And so fly they did, flapping hard for the next ten minutes, which was almost exactly how long it took for them to get enough distance between them and the herd of Horse-Controllers that they wouldn't be seen while they were demorphing and remorphing. Once the seven Animorphs were far enough ahead of all the horses, including the strays that had joined up with the main herd, they found a suitable pile of rocks to demorph behind.

The same pile of rocks that four of the Animorphs had taken shelter in when they had first come to Area 51, in fact. So Cassie, Slade, Marco and Tobias knew that they would have to morph quickly to avoid being spotted again. They told this to the rest of the Animorphs, who readily accepted this conclusion. The seven of them demorphed – or in Tobias' case just morphed – and remorphed into the racehorses they had acquired earlier that day.

Once they were all done, Cassie saw two problems. But only one of the problems would affect the whole group: (We look about a hundred times too perfect to be a bunch of scruffy wild horses,) Cassie said, looking around at the other Animorphs. (We need to roll around in the dirt, or run through some brambles. Something to make it look like we've been living out in the wild, not being groomed every day in a barn.)

As the mixed herd of normal horses and Horse-Controllers came trotting ever closer, Cassie and the other Animorphs headed off in the opposite direction, kicking up dust and running through long patches of grass, thickets and anything else that would dirty their coats and make them appear as if they lived in the wild.

Once the herd the Animorphs were going to join up with got close enough to see the seven of them clearly, the Animorphs could easily be mistaken for a small herd of wild thoroughbreds. The Animorphs blended in with the herd almost seamlessly, the only suspicion was on the part of the uninfested horses, who looked up at them and smelled them. The Horse-Controllers ignored them entirely.

Even before the seven Animorphs had fully integrated themselves into the herd, they were off and walking. Walking slowly, inexorably, into Area 51. Cassie took this opportunity to address her personal issue with Slade:

(Of all the horses, in all the stalls, why Slade, oh why did you have to pick _that_ one?) Cassie asked, after enduring almost ten minutes of Slade's horse morph's obnoxious scent.

(It was the closest?) Slade said uncertainly.

(I know it's not your fault, Slade,) Cassie sighed. (It's just that the scent of your horse morph is making mine a bit… uptight.)

(Oh. I'm sorry Cassie,) Slade said contritely, ducking his big horse head in as close as he could get to an apologetic gesture while in his currant morph. (Would you like me to move away?)


	76. Infiltration Mission

Cassie considered this. One the one hand, it would do a lot of good for her peace of mind if Slade weren't so close. But, conversely, it could draw some suspicion from the Horse-Controllers if they were seen to be behaving too… human. In the end, there was only one course of action that Cassie could feel comfortable with.

(No, Slade. I think it would be better if you stayed where you are. I can deal with the stallion.)

(If… if you say so, Cassie,) Slade said, still uncertain.

They were well past the perimeter fence by now, and still no one had stepped forward to challenge them. This was just what the more experienced Animorphs had been expecting of course, but it set Slade on edge. He wasn't at all comfortable with just walking around inside an enemy stronghold like this: perfectly exposed to whatever they might do to him.

But the others, Cassie and Jake especially, seemed to be perfectly at ease in this place. So Slade forced himself to put aside any misgivings he might have had. It wasn't his place to question his leader's decisions, and there was still the fact that Cassie outranked him. Slade resolved to keep his mouth shut, and his eyes open.

When they were out of the range of any humans who might have overheard them, the group of Horse-Controllers quickly decided to drop the pretense of normality.

"_Hullak fimul fallanta gehel. Callis feellos._"

(Who said that?) Cassie asked.

(One of the horses said that,) Slade said, not even breaking stride. (The one on our left.)

(You sound like this is all normal to you,) Rachel said, her raised eyebrow evident in her tone.

(It's no weirder than what we just did. Or what we're doing now, for that matter,) Slade said flatly.

(I guess you'd be right about that,) Rachel conceded the point.


	77. Runabout

"_Yall hellem. Fimul chall killim fullat!_"

(And there goes one of the other horses,) Marco said, inwardly rolling his eyes. (We have officially wandered into a _Mister Ed_ rerun. We have now entered… _The Nick at Night Zone_.) Marco started humming the theme from The Twilight Zone.

(That is _Galard_,) Aximili pointed out. (The Horse-Controllers are speaking _Galard_.)

(Two questions,) Jake said, his thought-speak voice betraying the fact that he was tense. (One: what is _Galard_? And, two: can those Horse-Controllers hear us thought-speaking? And, please answer the second question first, Ax.)

(Unless we were to thought-speak directly to the Horse-Controllers, they will not be able to overhear our conversations, Prince Jake,) Aximili explained. (As for your first question, _Galard_ is sort of a universal language, spoken by other species in the galaxy when neither of them shares a common language. These Horse-Controllers must have been fitted with speech synthesizers.)

(If these are Yeerks, wouldn't they be speaking the Yeerk language or something like that?) Cassie asked, confused.

(I am not sure,) Aximili said. (But the standard speech synthesizers _do_ use _Galard_ as a default setting. It is possible that the Yeerks are in possession of an older model of the device. It is sometimes easier to acquire outdated, less cutting-edge technology.)

(So… you're telling us that the Yeerks bought speech synthesizers on _sale_?) Rachel asked, disbelieving.

(Probably at the Wal-Mart on Pluto,) Marco cracked. (I swear, those morons wouldn't know innovation if it bit them on their oversized butts.)

(Ax, can you understand what those Controllers are saying?) Jake asked. (Can you translate for us?)

(Yes, Prince Jake,) Aximili confirmed. (The Horse-Controllers were talking about following their plan. They said 'If we do this right, we'll soon be off this mindless assignment, out of these worthless bodies, and back on our ship where we belong.' That is what the leader just said.)

(We have a problem,) Tobias said, as he saw the group of Horse-Controllers beginning to divide. (I think they're about to split up.)

(All right,) Jake said, snapping into command-mode. (Cassie, Tobias, Slade and I will go with one group. And Marco, Ax and Rachel will go with the other. Ax? If these Horse-Controllers keep talking, let us know, all right?)

(Yes, Prince Jake, I will do that.)

(I _have_ told you not to call me Prince, haven't I Ax?) Jake asked.

(Yes, Prince Jake, you have. Many times,) Ax said.

Cassie, Slade and the others in Jake's group fell into step with him, but carefully so as not to attract the attention of the Horse-Controllers. The second group, Ax's group, ambled their way over to the other group of Yeerk infested horses.

(This is really weird,) Cassie said, just as the two groups of horses started to move apart. (All of these Horse-Controllers are obviously on some kind of mission. I'm almost surprised that none of the soldiers have noticed the way these horses are acting, what with the way they seem so fanatical about security.)

(Well, in their defense, who in their right mind would ever think that a horse would be a security risk?) Tobias asked thoughtfully.

(I guess you'd be right about that,) Cassie conceded. (By the way Tobias, I was wondering how you liked this horse morph.)

(Compared to my usual body?) Tobias considered for a moment. (It's outright boring. Compared to when I couldn't morph at all?) Tobias chuckled. (I really enjoy it.)

(How are you enjoying this new morph, Slade?) Cassie asked.

(It's okay, I guess,) Slade said uncertainly. (I just wish it could see better. And that it wasn't so big and obvious. I feel like I'm waving around a sign that says 'Please Capture Me'.)

Cassie chuckled. (I guess it _would_ feel that way to someone who wasn't used to morphing. But people here just don't think of horses as a security risk. Now, if we were dealing with Controllers, it would be a different story. But, I'm pretty sure that these people are all normal humans.)

(Why? How would the situation be different if we were dealing with Controllers? They're all just humans, right?) Slade asked.

(No, Slade. Not all Controllers are human,) Cassie explained, as their group of horses walked the side of a road that was bordered on both sides by a neat row of simple, whitewashed clapboard buildings, each with its own number stenciled in black on the front. (The Yeerks have taken and infested three species that we know of, before they started moving on to Earth. The Hork-Bajir were the first type of Controller that we saw, back when all of this started. They look sort of like giant lizards, but they walk upright. The Hork-Bajir are the second most dangerous type of Controller.)

(_Second_ most? What would be the most dangerous type? And why are these… Hork-Bajir so dangerous?) Slade asked, while his mind struggled to shrug off the feeling that a big, bipedal lizard was somehow familiar to him. As if… as if he had seen something like it before.

(Visser Three, the Andalite-Controller,) Cassie said grimly. (_He's_ the most dangerous type. There's only one of him, which is good for us, but he can morph just like we can, and that's not so good. And since he's been all over the galaxy and back, he has the kind of morphs that don't exist anywhere on Earth. Very nasty morphs. As for your other question, Hork-Bajir are dangerous because they have blades on the back of all of their major joints. Taxxons are the second type of Controller, and are basically just giant centipedes. They're not very strong, but they'll eat anything, alive or not. Gedds are the last species of Controller that we know about, but we haven't encountered any of them up close yet.)

(Wow. These Yeerks seem to be really well prepared for this,) Slade said thoughtfully. (Why don't they just attack? It seems like it would save them a lot of trouble.)

Cassie was taken aback for a second by what Slade had just said. (The Yeerks don't want just our _planet_, Slade,) Cassie tried to explain. (What the Yeerks are after is our physical bodies. I think they would consider that starting a war would be counterproductive, since a lot of humans would get killed.)

(Oh, I guess I hadn't thought of it that way,) Slade said, falling silent after he'd finished that statement.

(Where are we?) Rachel asked, looking around at the various soldiers pushing carts and carrying bags of groceries.

(This is the Base Exchange,) Jake explained. (It's kind of like a shopping center for the soldiers who've been stationed here.)

(Must be a pretty boring place,) Rachel said, from her position with the other group of Horse-Controllers. (Not much to do out her but stand guard and keep secrets.)

The Animorphs and the Horse-Controllers both stepped backwards as a pair of camouflage-painted Humvees came rumbling down the road. No one seemed to notice or care that none of them were exactly acting like normal horses, but Slade couldn't help the feelings of nervousness he was still having. This aspect of the mission really set him on edge.

The sweltering heat of the afternoon sun was making the Animorphs' horse minds eager to look for a shady spot to rest in. The Animorphs ignored that desire, keeping pace with the Horse-Controllers as they continued to walk.

Cassie was marveling at the sheer strangeness of their currant situation: here they were, seven Animorphs in various horse morphs, following a group of Yeerk infested horses, and they were all of them trying to find out what if anything was being kept at Area 51. Cassie wondered if the rumors about the place could be true. _Could_ the government have recovered a crashed spacecraft from out in the desert somewhere? And, could they have somehow taken it back to this base to study it?

Was that what these Yeerks were here for? Were they trying to find out if it was real or not? Why? So that they could steal or destroy it before the people at the base found out its secrets, and possibly found out about the Yeerk invasion? Cassie wondered what the Air Force people might have recovered. A Bug fighter? An Andalite ship? Some spacecraft belonging to a race that the Animorphs had never heard of?

Cassie sniffed the air, something seemed… off. (Jake, Slade, Tobias, do any of you guys smell something weird?) she asked.

(I can smell those french fries over at the Base Exchange,) Jake said slyly.

(Not the _food_ Jake,) Cassie laughed, then quickly became serious again. (Smell the Horse-Controllers.)

(Do I really have to?) Jake complained, not really meaning it. But he and the others sniffed the air, picking up the pheromones that the Horse-Controllers were giving off. (Oh, you mean _that_ smell.)

(What _is_ that smell?) Slade asked.

(It's fear,) Tobias said. (Nervousness. Great, if they're scared about something, then it's a sure bet that we should be scared of it, too. Whatever _it_ turns out to be.)

(I think I have that part covered,) Cassie said wryly.


	78. Hidden Discovery

Cassie looked around at the two groups of Horse-Controllers, trying to find some kind of context for the emotions she was literally smelling on them. The two groups were moving closer together again, after having split apart before they had reached the road. Cassie saw that the two groups were starting to converge. The Horse-Controllers' destination looked to be one of the main, if not _the_ main, hangers.

It was huge, but Cassie personally thought that the word huge didn't really do the building much justice. From Cassie's perspective, the doors of the hangar looked large enough that a full-grown Tyrannosaurus Rex could walk through them, probably with a few inches to spare, at least. The immense structure was also very carefully and thoroughly guarded. Air Force personnel, some armed with rifles and others armed with automatic weapons, were stationed all around the perimeter of the hangar.

Cassie even thought she could just make out the silhouette of another soldier with a rifle standing at the top of the hangar. There was also a sign on the front of the hangar. Though none of the Animorphs could read it with their dim and rather pathetic horse eyes.

(I miss my _real_ eyes,) Tobias said rather grumpily.

(Yeah, so do I,) Slade commiserated.

All of a sudden a very, _very_ loud series of bells went off. Most of the Animorphs had reared up onto their hind legs before they were able to regain control of their horse minds. Slade and the Horse-Controllers, however, waited calmly and patiently for whatever was coming. Slade, because he was once again telepathically blocking out the impulses from his horse mind, and the Horse-Controllers because they knew what was coming.

Sure enough, the huge doors of the hangar started to slowly open. The noise of the gargantuan motors that were required to open those doors registered as an immensely loud rumbling to both the Animorphs and the Horse-Controllers.

The guards all swung their weapons up into firing positions, looking around with alert assurance. The one place they failed to look was directly in front of them, or they would have seen that the group of horses wasn't acting at all normal. Suddenly, three of the Horse-Controllers surged forward at a run. Marco, Rachel and Aximili followed them after a few seconds of hesitation.

(Why do I get the feeling that there's going to be a lot of shooting really soon?) Tobias groaned.

(Probably because you're right,) Slade said grimly.

(Why are they doing this?) Cassie asked, as their group of Horse-Controllers followed the first one into the hangar. (It doesn't make any sense. Why would they spend all this time hiding in horse bodies, so they could go in and out of areas without being noticed, only to go and blow their cover by charging in like this?)

(They're running out of patience,) Jake said, breaking into a run himself. (The subtle approach isn't getting results fast enough to satisfy them. You heard them when they were talking to each other, right? They want to get out of here as soon as they can. That's why they're doing this. It's their final move; they're desperate.)

(So, what do _we_ do?) Cassie asked.

(We play follow-the-leader with them,) Jake said, pointing to the Horse-Controllers out in front of them with his nose. (That way, we'll know what they're here to get, and we'll also have a better chance at stopping them.) _We'd also better hope that these Yeerks have a good plan for not getting shot,_ Jake thought to himself. _There are a lot of people with guns here._

The lead Horse-Controller, out ahead of even Rachel and Ax, body-slammed a guard that hadn't gotten out of the way fast enough. All of them, Animorphs and Horse-Controllers alike, were racing flat-out into the main hangar. The guards hadn't planned for this, and there was not one among their number who didn't wonder how something like this could possibly be happening.

They had been prepared for quite a few scenarios down at Area 51, but being attacked by an army of horses was most assuredly not one of them. The Air Force personnel who were trying to keep the charging horses from getting inside the hangar, the one that they were supposed to be guarding from all comers, were being knocked down by the madly charging horses.

Cassie saw one of the soldiers who had been interrogating them when they had first come into Area 51. Captain Torrelli himself, in fact.

"Someone get these damned crazy horses _out_ of this hangar!" Captain Torrelli shouted.

The Horse-Controllers reared up and pawed the air with their hooves, their shrieking whinnies adding to the general panic in the facility.

"What do we do, Captain?!" one of the other soldiers demanded frantically.

A few of the technicians, made all the more obvious by their long white lab coats, were screaming in panic and running frantically away from the horses charging into the hangar. The soldiers, on the other hand, were marching forward to confront the mixed group of equines. Which, given the fact that the horses were several times larger than the humans facing them, was a rather dangerous thing to do.

"Should we shoot them, Captain?" another of the soldiers asked, raising his rifle into a firing position.

"Negative, soldier," Torrelli snapped. "Do _not_ fire, we could damage the objects in the labs."

Both soldiers nodded, quickly re-shouldering their rifles. The Horse-Controllers, with the Animorphs not far behind, raced into and through the group of rearing, whinnying horses and the soldiers who were trying without much success to subdue them. If the soldiers even noticed them in the chaos, they made no attempt to stop them. Of course, that might have had a lot to do with the fact that they were currently preoccupied with trying to guard the hangar from the first bunch of horses.

Whatever the reason, the Animorphs were not challenged as they thundered into the laboratories inside the huge hangar, hot on the tails of the Horse-Controllers, all wondering what they would find inside the alternately famed and infamous Area 51. As they crossed the threshold into the labs, the Animorphs saw more of the scientists. They were running away from them like the Animorphs had morphed into a pack of wolves instead of a herd of horses.

It was a strange sight, to be sure: white-coated scientists and technicians running away from the horses; shouting soldiers and airmen, brandishing their sidearms and chasing after the horses; and older, elaborately dressed, stuffy-looking, high-ranking officers standing around looking generally annoyed. A lot of people were shouting.

"What the blazing Hades is going _on_ here?!" one of the generals demanded, looking around at the chaos in the once-orderly laboratory.

"Somebody stop those horses!"

"Shoot 'em!"

"Negative, soldier! No firing inside the labs!" another officer, a Major this time, shouted above the noise of pounding feet and clattering hooves.

"What are we going to do then, _arrest _them?!" another of the low-ranking soldiers entreated, shrill sarcasm coloring her tones.

One of the technicians sneezed, pulling a tissue out of one of his large pockets. "Somebody do _something_ at least!" another sneeze. "I'm allergic to horses!"

It was definitely a strange scene, but the Animorphs were enjoying it. Even Cassie was enjoying herself, because Minneapolis Max was enjoying himself. Rearing up suddenly and letting loose a shrieking whinny, Cassie managed to startle a woman into dropping her open container of strawberry yogurt on the floor.

(Nice one, Cassie,) Slade laughed, turning to snap at the hands of one of the soldiers chasing him and watching in satisfaction as he recoiled.

(We're doing it!) Marco enthused. (We're going to make it inside! Most Secret Place On Earth, here we come!)

(You do know you're a dork, right Marco?) Rachel asked.

(Sorry, Rachel, but even _you_ can't spoil my good mood right now,) Marco laughed. (We're going to go where no kid has gone before!)

The mix-and-match herd of Horse-Controllers, Animorphs in their various horse morphs, and normal horses, blew through the remaining human barriers between them and the main lab. Once inside, it was obvious that this was the focal point, the reason for all the security they had just gotten past. Inside the room were two things, but one of them was seemingly much more important than the other.

The first object was behind a wall of glass that looked like it could easily be a foot thick. Behind the glass, and more than a little distorted because of the glass' thickness, was a polished steel pedestal. Sitting atop the pedestal, bathed in the light of several mounted spotlights, was a green cube that looked like it had had all of its corners rounded off. It was obvious to almost anyone who looked at it that this, whatever it was, didn't belong on Earth.

With the second object it wasn't so easy to tell, since a lot of people on Earth could have made a sword like that. Though, it was kind of odd that not only the hilt but also the blade itself was blue. The strange sword was outside of the glass enclosure. There was also the matter of the jewel that had been literally fused into the base of the blade. It was dark sea-green, and perfectly spherical. The Air Force had had their own gemologists studying the crystal, but all they had managed to find out so far was that it wasn't an emerald.


	79. Danger and darkness

The majority of the sensors, however, were focussed on the cubelike structure behind and to the right of he sword. It was a light, spring green, covered in tubing and strange, almost runic-looking symbols. The cube was eight-and-a-half feet on each side, and some of the Animorphs could just make out the inside of the cube through an opening that was large enough to walk a tall man through. The inside of the cube was a lighter green than the outside, lit by soft blue lights, and a few of the Animorphs could just get a glimpse of some kind of instrument panels on the far side of the wall.

Marco was one of those people. (There they are!) he shouted. (Those are the two most carefully guarded secrets on the entire planet!)

Slade was another, but he wasn't nearly as excited as Marco. (So, we're in. What do we do now, Jake?)

But Jake wasn't paying much attention to what was going on around him anymore, he was far too absorbed in studying the sword that the Air Force had found. It was over three feet long, and slightly curved. Jake thought that it looked a lot like those Japanese katanas that he'd seen on display when his family had gone on that trip to the museum the week before last. _Blue, there's something about the color blue…_ Jake paused, as a sudden thought struck him. _It couldn't be… his… could it?_

(Jake? Jake!)

Slade's call broke Jake out of his musings. Jake noticed that he had been the only one staring, transfixed, at the sword on the table. The others eyes had all been focussed on the cubelike thing up on the pedestal, behind the glass. The Horse-Controllers in particular looked fascinated by it.

"_Cullem fallat?_" one of the Horse-Controllers asked.

(What are they saying, Ax?) Jake asked, turning away from the sword to look at the cube.

(The leader was questioning one of his subordinates about the object in front of us, Prince Jake. He wanted to know if they knew what it is,) Ax informed the rest of the Animorphs.

"_Jahalan fornella._"

This time, none of the others required Ax's translation skills, they could read the answer in the Horse-Controllers' body language: none of them knew what it was that they were looking at. Jake, losing interest in the cube up on the pedestal, turned back to look at the sword. If… if it _did_ belong to him, then maybe Jake should take it, just for safekeeping.

Picking up the sword's hilt with his mouth, Jake was caught by surprise when another pair of soldiers came stomping into the room.

"SERGEANT get those HORSES OUT of this facility RIGHT NOW!"

"Yessir!" the Sergeant snapped off a smart salute. "Horses! About face!"

It came as rather a surprise, but not an unwelcome one, when the large group of horses did exactly as they were told. They all turned at once, and the Sergeant couldn't help thinking that these horses were acting more like human soldiers than normal animals.

"You!" the Colonel snapped, catching sight of the sword in Jake's mouth. "Put that down RIGHT NOW!"

Surprised, Jake opened his mouth. The sword fell, but instead of clattering noisily on the floor when it hit, it stuck point-down into the floor and stayed there. Looking for all the world like Excalibur sans the stone. Not looking back, since he didn't want this to look any more suspicious than he was sure it already did, Jake turned and followed his friends out into the swiftly falling night.


	80. The sum of nothing

The depression radiating off of the Horse-Controllers was almost tangible, but most of the Animorphs didn't know why they would be depressed after doing what they had just done. Marco voiced what most of the Animorphs were wondering.

(I don't get it. Why are they all moping around like this? I mean, they came, they saw… We _all_ saw those things they were keeping in that lab, though I really don't know why they'd be interested in keeping some old sword, even if it _is _blue… But they got in, so why, _why _are they so depressed all of a sudden?)

(Ax says that they don't know what it is that they saw,) Jake reminded the other Animorphs. _And if that sword belongs to who I think it does, it's probably one of the reasons that they Yeerks want in so badly._

(Speaking of swords, why did you seem so engrossed by that sword on the table, Jake?) Rachel asked.

(I thought it might belong to someone I've met.) Jake said cryptically, without pausing to think about what it was he was saying, or how others might interpret his words.

(Someone you've _met_?) Marco demanded. (How is that possible? I've known you all my life, and I've never heard you talking about some guy who had a blue sword before.)

Jake snapped out of his daze, hearing for the first time what he had really said. That, combined with the sheer disbelief in Marco's voice, let Jake know that he had said something he really shouldn't have, at least until he could make sense of it himself. (Sorry, I was just thinking out loud.)

(What were you 'thinking out loud' about, Jake?) Cassie asked kindly.

(Just something about who that sword might belong to is all.)

(Okay, getting off the subject of the sword that may or may not belong to someone Jake knows, what _was_ that cube thing that we all saw?) Rachel cut in.

(It didn't look like it was any kind of spacecraft that I've seen before. And I don't think it would be unfair to assume that it's probably not a weapon,) Jake said. _And the sword didn't belong to someone I knew, I said it might have belonged to someone I've met. I even have a fairly good idea of who it might belong to._ Jake didn't say any of this, however, since he didn't want to bring up the subject again.

(Yeah, we know that, Jake,) Rachel put in. (But if all those scientists back at Area 51 don't know what it is, and none of us know what it is, and now we know that the Yeerks don't have the slightest idea, just _how_ are we supposed to find out what that thing is?)

(I would not say that none of us know,) Aximili muttered, but no one appeared to be listening to him.

(Every conspiracy nut on the face of this _planet_ is wondering what that thing back in the hangar is,) Tobias said ruefully, chuckling. (All of us _saw_ it, and we don't even know what it might do, let alone who made it.)

(I would not say that _none_ of us know,) Aximili said again, and this time Rachel heard him and responded.

(What do you know about that thing in the hangar, Ax?) Rachel asked, her tone somewhere between curious and mildly annoyed.

(I have seen one of those before, though I will freely admit that the only one that I have seen was in a museum…)


	81. Walkabout

(Wait, look!) Cassie cut in suddenly.

__

Something was swooping in low and fast over the dry scrubland. Something that looked like a headless, legless cockroach holding a pair of spears out in front of its main body.

(That's a Bug fighter,) Marco said. (What's one of those things doing way out here? As if I couldn't guess,) he added, before any of the others could make a comment.

Cassie was scared, but what she found strange was the fact that the Horse-Controllers were more terrified of the Bug fighter than they had been, even when they were risking messy death just to have a look inside the main hangar at Area 51. _But somehow, I don't think it's the Bug fighter they're so scared of. If I were going to bet, I'd put my money on who's _in_ that Bug fighter rather than the Bug fighter itself._

Judging by the amount of fear pheromones Cassie could smell, she had a fairly good idea of just who was on board that Bug fighter. The small Yeerk ship circled once, and managed a very smooth landing behind a pile of tumbled rocks.

(I can't believe that the radar back at the base isn't picking that thing up,) Tobias said. (It's at least the size of an RV, and I really don't know how they could manage to miss something that huge.)

(Radar? Is that the human system that bounces radio beams off of objects to determine their distance?) Aximili asked. (I do not mean to offend, but any Andalite child could build a radar-cloak from the pieces of his toys,) Ax said, more than a little primly.

(Ax, somehow you're beginning to grind my nerves,) Rachel said, just now starting to become annoyed. (And that's supposed to be Marco's job.)

The Animorphs followed the group of Horse-Controllers around to the back of the rocks, where the Bug fighter was already waiting for them. The exit hatch was still closed, and remained that way until all of the Horse-Controllers were assembled in an orderly double-row in front of it. Once they were all assembled, and the Animorphs had gotten themselves in a good position to watch the proceedings, the exit hatch of the Bug fighter slowly opened.

First to step out onto the long scrub grass was a Hork-Bajir warrior armed with a standard-issue Dracon beam. Looking around for any possible threats, and apparently finding none, the Hork-Bajir signaled to the second passenger of the Bug fighter. As he came out, Cassie nodded to herself, _I knew it would be him._

Slade stood rigid. This was it, _this _was his enemy. Slade knew this fact beyond any doubt. _The question is, what do I do about it?_ Slade wondered. This horse body he was currently in was basically helpless; no claws, no fangs, pathetic eyesight, and nothing in the way of armored skin or a powerful tail. From his vantagepoint, Slade could see both the similarities and the differences between his horse morph and this new creature, whoever or whatever he was.

For one, the fur seemed to be blue. That was odd to Slade's sensibilities, but it was really the most insignificant of the changes. The more drastic difference was the fact that from where the neck would be on a horse, there sprouted a semi-human body, but that was only from shoulders to waist, the head of this creature was most definitely _not_ human. He couldn't pick out much detail with his utterly wretched horse eyes, but Slade thought he could make out a pair of horns on top of the creature's head.

But the thing that Slade paid the most attention to – the one thing that mutely warned him that as long as he was in this pitiful horse morph, there was nothing he could do but stand back and watch – was the creature's tail. The tail was held erect, which was strange in and of itself; but more than that there was also a long, sharp blade at the end of the tail. There wasn't enough light to reflect off the edges, or maybe his horse eyes were just to weak to make them out, but Slade was sure that if he could see the edges clearly, they would glitter.

(Visser Three,) Slade heard Cassie say, her voice grim and unsurprised.

(Yeah,) Jake said, from somewhere to Slade's left, matching Cassie's tone. (Suddenly this whole thing just got even more serious.)

__

Visser Three, huh? So that's who this guy is. Look's pretty impressive, Slade thought to himself.


	82. Attempted Deception

(Report,) Visser Three said curtly, speaking for the first time.

The lead Horse-Controller nodded once. "Visser, _gahallum fillak--_"

He was cut off before he could get out another word. (Don't waste my time with pleasantries. Did you succeed, or did you fail?) the Visser asked coldly.

"Visser, _kir fillan--_"

The Visser's tail snapped forward, stopping only once the edge of the blade rested against the Horse-Controller's neck. _Holy hell, how can he move like that?! _Slade fought the horse's instinctive reaction to such a swift movement, while at the same time trying to deal with his own misgivings. He was sure now that his horse morph wouldn't last three seconds against Visser Three, but he was also starting to doubt his chances even if he demorphed and faced him.

(Jake, what do I do?) Slade asked in a closed telepathic transmission, needing some reassurance from his leader. Jake would know what to do, he had to.

(Stay where you are, Slade,) Jake said steadily. (We only have one chance at this; if we convince him that we're just a normal herd of horses, he'll probably just let us go.)

Slade could tell that Jake didn't quite believe himself about that, but still, orders were orders. _(All right Jake, whatever you say.)_

Visser Three was speaking again. (Did you penetrate the facility, yes or no?)

According to Ax's translation, the Horse-Controller answered yes.

(Did you see the object that the humans are hiding inside it, the one that our sensors indicate is constructed from alloys that cannot be made on this planet?)

Again, according to Ax, the Horse-Controller answered yes.

(And, can you now tell me what this object is?) the Visser's voice was calm, a deadly calm.

The Horse-Controller visibly hesitated, the Visser's tail snapped forward in half the time it took to blink, and the Horse-Controller's head fell to the ground with a wet _thump_. The body stood for a few seconds more, before toppling over in the absence of its head.

(Worthless imbeciles!) Visser Three raged. (We have wasted weeks procuring these horse bodies and setting up this infiltration. First we lost that clumsy fool Korin Five-Four-Seven when he got bitten by a snake, and now we've lost poor Jillay Nine-Two-Six!) the Visser's tone was accusatory, as it had been anyone's fault but his own that the latter had died.

(I will have the secrets of that facility,) Visser Three hissed suddenly. (I _will_ have them.)

Even without moving, Visser Three seemed to shake himself out of a funk right then. (All right. I've punished the one responsible for this wasted effort, transport will come for the rest of you. We still have our backup plan. It was always a better one than this farce. Have you idiots at least managed to identify the right targets for us to infest?)

"_Jihal_, Visser!" the Horse-Controllers shouted.

(Good. Then you can live. For now, we'll target the right humans. And then we will seize them tomorrow at…) For the first time, Visser Three seemed to really _see_ the Animorphs standing at the edge of the impromptu staging ground. (Those other horses, what are they doing here? They are not any of our people?)

According to Ax's translation, the lead Horse-Controller was explaining that it was normal on Earth for horses to herd together in large groups. He said that it was good for there to be uninfested horses in this herd, they would act as a camouflage of sorts. He said that is was best that they appeared to be a normal herd of horses.

That, apparently, was not the answer that Visser Three wanted to hear. (You idiot,) Visser Three hissed. (Have you managed to forget that the Andalite bandits that plague us can morph into any animal they chose? Including these horses? I will have to kill these creatures, just to be sure.)

(No one move, no one act like they heard anything,) Cassie ordered.

Slade froze, stiff as any living creature could be._ This isn't good. What is she going to do? He says he's going to kill all of us, and she just wants us to stand here and do nothing?_ Slade took a deep breath, steadying himself. _No, she has a plan. She has to; Cassie wouldn't be second-in-command if she couldn't think under pressure._

Cassie, meanwhile, lowered her big head and cropped a mouthful of grass. Swallowing, Cassie started to do the very same thing that the Horse-Controller that they had seen from inside the gully had been doing. Only Cassie didn't hide, and she didn't stop. She just kept on pooping.

Visser Three chuckled darkly. (Well, I suppose these creatures _are_ simply uninfested horses after all.) Before any of the Animorphs could breathe a sigh of relief, though, Visser Three was speaking again. (Still, I suppose it would be better to kill them and have done with it.)

That was _not_ something the Animorphs were happy to hear. (That's not good,) Cassie said grimly.


	83. Wasted Trip

The Hork-Bajir aimed his Dracon beam that the Animorphs. A second Hork-Bajir came sprinting out of the ship to join the first. Cassie felt the first strains of terror growing inside her. Horses were no match for Hork-Bajir. Cassie tried to make herself run away, but she wasn't the only one who had a say in deciding what her body did. The stallion named Minneapolis Max was also a factor in the decision, and Max didn't feel much like running away. Cassie reared up, kicked the air with her broad, powerful hooves, and ran.

Cassie ran all right, right in the direction of the first Hork-Bajir that had come out of the Bug fighter. Cassie didn't want to do it, but she hadn't counted on Minneapolis Max's mind being this strong. Slade leaped forward, intending to help Cassie.

(Slade, what are you doing?!) Jake demanded. (Stop! Get back here!)

(Cassie's in danger; I'm going to go help her,) Slade said firmly. He heard Jake yell one more time for him to stop, and Slade closed his eyes briefly. He wasn't going to get off so easily this time. (Reprimand me later, okay? I'll come back from this, I swear.)

Slade had started off behind Cassie, but soon his frantic pace had brought him alongside her.

(Slade, what are _you_ doing here?) Cassie asked.

(Helping you, if you'll have me.) Slade had added that last part just to be polite. He had no intention of leaving her to face her enemy alone, even if she _did_ ask him to.

Slade was on Cassie's right, directly in the line-of-fire for the Hork-Bajir's Dracon beam. With a powerful surge of muscles, Slade managed to pull just a little bit ahead of Cassie. Trying to see well enough through his pathetic horse eyes to do what he was planning to was a challenge, but it was one Slade was more than willing to overcome.

Slade found that if he just looked hard enough at what he wanted to see, he could make out a reasonable amount of whatever he was looking at. Nothing like what he could see with his real eyes, of course, but almost enough to be passable. In this case, it was enough to let him attack the Hork-Bajir before the other could fire his weapon. Slade sunk his big, flat horse teeth into the Hork-Bajir's left bicep.

Horse teeth weren't the sharp, stabbing weapons of the wolf, or even comparable to the teeth of Slade's panther morph. But that didn't mean being bitten by them was painless in any way. The Hork-Bajir screamed, dropping his weapon, but not before Cassie had managed to kick him in the face. Slade let go of the Hork-Bajir's arm, just as Cassie landed hooves-first on the Dracon beam he'd been holding, crushing the weapon beyond repair.

(Now, everyone, _RUN_!) Jake shouted.

Cassie and Slade both turned away from the fallen Hork-Bajir warrior. The other helped his comrade to regain his footing, and the two Hork-Bajir took off in pursuit of the Animorphs.

(If those two catch up to us, we're dog food,) Rachel said grimly. (Two Hork-Bajir against seven horses? We don't have a prayer.)

All of the Animorphs knew that Rachel's assessment was true. Even a hundred horses wouldn't be able to win against two Hork-Bajir, so there wasn't much chance of seven even being able to survive.

(How fast are Hork-Bajir?) Cassie asked Rachel, who had once morphed a Hork-Bajir herself.

(Too fast,) Rachel said.

Looking back, Cassie could see that Rachel's assessment was true. The Hork-Bajir were steadily gaining on them, bounding like some grotesque, evil parodies of kangaroos. The Animorphs kept running, staying together for what feeble protection that would offer. When they saw the lights, the Animorphs almost stopped in their tracks. The lights turned out to be the headlights from a pair of Humvees.

The Air Force security forces were coming to investigate the rumor that some strange craft had landed out in the scrub. The Hork-Bajir hesitated for the space of a few more seconds, then turned and ran back into the Bug fighter. Skimming low over the rocks, and taking advantage of the fact that human eyes didn't see very well at night, the Yeerk ship took off.

The Animorphs kept running, passing through the high-beams of the Humvees' headlights and being completely ignored. The soldiers weren't out here to look at a bunch of wild horses. Although, they did find it somewhat amusing that the top brass, who had been engaged in studying an extraterrestrial artifact ever since it had com falling out of the sky, hadn't been able to handle a bunch of plain old terrestrial horses.

The Animorphs, for their part, were happy to get away from the Hork-Bajir that had been chasing them. But, they weren't all that pleased that they hadn't been able to figure out what that thing that the Air Force personnel were holding at Area 51 was. The Yeerks hadn't known either, and that fact made their failure a little bit more bearable, but only just.

(Well, that was stupid from start to finish,) Rachel said, summing up the opinions of the human members of the Animorphs. (We could have all been killed, and for what? Some little blue sword, and some other thing that the Yeerks don't even recognize.)

(Whatever that cube-thing was, it sure didn't look like a spaceship,) Marco commented.

(Not a spaceship,) Jake agreed. (But I don't think it looks like a weapon, either. But it really doesn't look like something that any human would make.)

(It is not a spacecraft, or a weapon. But, you are right about the fact that it was not made on Earth,) Aximili said.

(Well, I guess we're never going to be able to find out what that thing was,) Cassie said, sighing silently.

(Why do you say that?) Ax asked.

(Because it's not worth risking our lives just to get another look. And, if the Yeerks don't even know what it is--)

(Of course the Yeerks don't know what it is. No Yeerk has ever been on board an Andalite Dome ship,) Aximili cut in.

(Ax, are you telling us that you actually know what that thing back in the hangar is?) Tobias asked, once all the Animorphs had stopped walking and turned to stare at Ax.

(Yes. I had started to tell you earlier, but we were interrupted,) Aximili said.

(So, what was that thing?) Slade asked.

(It is a disposable module of the type used in the first generation of Andalite Dome ships. When these types of modules were used up, they were jettisoned into space. They were normally aimed at a star, so that they would be burned up without a trace. This one must have somehow drifted off course, and been caught in Earth's gravity well.)

(So, its some kind of engine?) Marco asked.

(Is it a weapon?) Rachel asked.

(No. It is… this is somewhat embarrassing for me to talk about.) Aximili took a deep breath to calm himself, and then continued with his explanation. (It is an Andalite Dome ship's modular waste disposal system.)

For a full minute, there was complete silence on the part of the Animorphs. Then most of them started laughing.

(You mean to tell me that the famed, fabled Area 51, The Most Secret Place on Earth, the Holy Grail of conspiracy nuts, is hiding the secret of an Andalite _toilet_?) Marco asked, once he had managed to stop laughing so hard.

(Only a very primitive model,) Aximili said condescendingly. (Since the time that this one crashed on Earth, there have been huge technological improvements.)

Slade was starting to get really annoyed with Ax's attitude. The arrogance of the guy just really rubbed him the wrong way. It was one thing to be confident in your own abilities, but the Andalite took it farther than that. And the unstated but otherwise obvious implication that humans were all a bunch of stupid idiots… that was something that Slade knew he wouldn't be able to deal with in large doses.

(Is there any chance, even the smallest, that the guys back in Area 51 could find out anything important from studying that… _thing_ back in the hangar?)

(No, Prince Jake. There is not the slightest chance that studying that particular model will give your people the ability to travel though space. Or even to design weapons.)

(Yeah, that's pretty much what I thought,) Jake said.

(Well, since we now know that that little excursion was pointless in a big way, why don't we all get along home?) Marco suggested.


	84. Parent Trap

(Yeah. Everyone, start demorphing,) Jake said. (We should be far enough from their perimeter defenses to be safe.)

All of the Animorphs started their individual demorphs, they stopped walking only when their shifting legs couldn't hold their weight anymore, and Ax didn't stop at all. They all started walking again once their legs and arms had reformed.

"All right everyone," Jake said. "Start morphing birds. We don't want those guys back there, if they do decide to come back, finding a bunch of kids out in the scrub."

"Four of whom they're going to recognize right off the bat," Marco commented sardonically.

"Yeah," Jake said, just as he started to morph into his owl form.

Owls were better suited to flying at night, so that was what most of the Animorphs chose to morph into. Slade, however, didn't have an owl morph right then, so he just used his raven morph to follow Cassie back to the barn. The Animorphs flew together until they were back over the suburbs, and then the time came for them to split up and go to their various destinations.

(Come on, Slade. I'll lead you home,) Cassie said kindly.

(I know you will. I don't think I'd have it any other way,) Slade said, thinking kind thoughts about the girl flying just up ahead of him.

(By the way, thanks for helping me out back there. It might not have gone so well with that Hork-Bajir if you hadn't been there.)

(Well, I couldn't let you face that monster alone. You're… you're a very important person, Cassie.)

(Thanks, Slade.)

After that, the two of them fell silent. Once they had arrived back at the barn, both Cassie and Slade flew inside it. Slade because it was the only home he had right now, and Cassie because she wanted to see how he was doing before she left him for the night. Landing, they both demorphed at the same time.

"How have you been up here, Slade?"

"I've been getting by all right," he said. "Why the sudden interest, Cassie?"

"I've been thinking about it for awhile," Cassie shrugged. "This was just the first time I decided to bring it up."

Slade sat down, beginning to arrange his blankets and pillows the way he always did when he was preparing to go to sleep. Cassie just stood back and watched him, wondering how he could ever get comfortable on that hard wooden floor._ But, then again, I don't know how he'd ever manage to get comfortable on all that itchy hay, either,_ Cassie thought with a smile.

"Well, have a good night, Slade," Cassie said, turning around and walking out to the edge of the hayloft.

__

(Good night, Cassie.)

Cassie climbed back down the ladder, hoping that her parents would be in bed by now, or at least in bed, since it was so late now. She didn't feel up to morphing again right now, so Cassie just walked into the back door as she was. Heading through the kitchen, Cassie didn't see her parents in the living room until she was in the living room herself. Rubbing her tired eyes, Cassie stopped in mid-yawn when she finally noticed that someone else was in the living room.

Aisha was _not_ happy. In fact, she was so far from it that "happy" was a nearly invisible dot on her emotional horizon. _How could Cassie have done this to us? Doesn't she know how much we worry about her?_ Looking into the eyes of her only child, Aisha saw that Cassie looked both tired and surprised, though she was more the latter than the former at the moment.

Cassie stepped into the living room, and nearly jumped out of her skin at the sight that confronted her: both of her parents had apparently been waiting for her to walk in. Judging by the expressions on their faces, they were not very happy with her at the moment. Not that Cassie could really blame them right now, but she really wasn't in the mood for a lecture right now.

All that Cassie was in the mood to do right now was go up to her room, change into her pajamas, and fall into bed. Apparently, someone else had other ideas.

Cassie's mother started off the conversation. "Where on God's green Earth have you been?!" she demanded, staring angrily down at Cassie.

Cassie had always felt that her mother possessed the uncanny ability to actually grow taller when she was really angry. She started out at her normal height, only two inches taller than Cassie, but over the course of whatever speech she was making she seemed to grow ever taller, until it was as if she towered over Cassie with her mere presence.

"I was out with Rachel," Cassie said, being as truthful as she dared, hoping that that would pacify her mother at least enough that she could go up to her room to sleep.

"Out with Rachel doing _what_?" Aisha hissed, shattering Cassie's hopes of getting to bed any time soon. "You already missed dinner, it's gotten dark out, and you didn't even tell us where you were going!"

"We were very worried about you, Cassie," Walter said quietly.

Now Cassie felt guilty. She knew what it was to worry now. She worried about the other Animorphs, her friends, about the consequences to her soul if she continued to fight the Yeerks, about the consequences to the world if she ever stopped, and now there was the additional worries about Slade. Cassie wondered if he was really as fine as he said he was, up in the barn by himself all day. If he got enough food, despite the fact that she fed him three times a day.

"I'm really, really sorry I made you worry about me. I won't do it again."

"Where. Were. You. Young. Lady?" Aisha demanded again, this time speaking extremely slowly in her I-want-an-answer-right-this-second voice.

"I was just out with Rachel. And Jake," Cassie said, again being as truthful as she could while still having to keep the Animorphs a secret.

Cassie was prepared for a lot of things, or so she told herself. But, when her mom and dad shared a look for just the two of them, one that clearly meant something important, Cassie had to admit to herself that she didn't know what was going on.

"You know, we've already discussed your dating," Aisha said, a hand on her hip, but obviously trying to hold back a laugh. "I thought we had both decided that you're too young for that king of thing right now."

Cassie was mortified. "Dating?" she squeaked.

"Maybe it's time we had another talk about the birds and the bees," Aisha said, sighing and shaking her head.

Cassie could just _feel_ the blood draining out of her whole head at the thought of being subjected to a grown-up talk about boys. The blood came rushing right back into her cheeks and neck as Cassie thought about it more. Talking about her, admittedly strange, relationship with Jake with her mother and father was very close to the last thing Cassie wanted to do right now.

"Um… I'm not, really… dating. It's… nothing like _that_," Cassie stammered.

"It's… nothing to be ashamed of, Cassie," Walter said haltingly, now more than ever seeing the need for tact and subtlety. "You're becoming a young woman now, it's only natural that you'd have certain… interests. You have a lot of natural… curiosity."

What Cassie wanted now, more than anything in the world, was to dig a hole in the middle of the floor, hide herself in it, and pull the carpet up over her. Or, failing that, run out into the barn, morph to wolf, and see if Slade knew of any good hiding places.

"All we're asking is for you to be honest with us," Aisha said sternly. "Do not make us worry about you."

"Absolutely!" Cassie agreed, with a little more force than was strictly necessary. "I swear I'll never make you worry about me again! Can I go now?"

"Yes, Cassie," Aisha sighed indulgently. "You can go now."

Cassie all but ran out of the living room, only stopping once she was back in the kitchen. Cassie pulled open the refrigerator and started rummaging around. What Cassie most wanted to do right now was to make herself a nice big sandwich, take it up to her room, and try to get at least _some_ of her homework done. She'd been falling a little behind lately, owing to her rather odd extracurricular activities.


	85. Realization

Just as she was starting to get out the sliced turkey, though, Cassie started hearing the voices of her parents coming through the door. Tiptoeing back to the door, Cassie pressed her ear against it.

"See? What did I tell you?" Aisha said, obviously smug.

"You were right, as usual," Walter agreed, chuckling softly.

"It's the only way. Cassie already does so much work around the house. What else can we really do? It wouldn't be fair to give her extra work as punishment, and making her stay in her room doesn't really work, since she has all sorts of things to distract her in there."

"You're right. But none of that changes the fact that we have raised a very responsible, very mature little girl. Cassie is one cool kid," Walter said, the tone of his voice making it obvious that he was smiling fondly.

Cassie felt warm inside, knowing that not only did her parents love her, they also liked her as a person. It was a nice thing to know, since Cassie felt the same way about them. But Cassie had a feeling that their discussion wasn't finished, so she pressed herself against the door again, listening.

"Yes," Aisha said, her tone conveying the same kind of smile as Walter's had. "Cassie is, without a doubt, one of the coolest kids in the world. But, on those rare occasions when she really screws up, the only way to discipline her is to embarrass her."

Both her mom and dad had a good laugh over that. That was pretty much the end of Cassie's warm, happy glow. _I guess you can never really trust parents,_ Cassie thought, suppressing an urge to sigh in resignation.

"Maybe next time we can tell her we're going to have Jake and his parents over to discuss rules for their relationship," Aisha suggested.

More laughter, louder this time.

"Or, as a backup plan, we could tell her that we're going to take her to Father Banion for a family discussion about intimacy," Walter suggested.

Cassie sighed again, turning away from the door to lean her back against the wall. _Great. Just what I needed, for my parents to know about my feelings for Jake. And they also know that mentioning it in any way, shape, or form will make me want to die from embarrassment. Sometimes observant parents are more trouble than they're worth._

Deciding to eat now and think about what to do about her parents later, Cassie quickly selected the ingredients she needed for her turkey sandwich, put it together, then headed up to her room. Cassie intended to get some work done on the homework that had been piling up on her desk, but first she had to make her way across the maze of junk on her floor.

__

I really should clean up my room someday, but there's never any time. Cassie laughed at herself as she stepped over all the detritus on her floor. Looking at her desk, Cassie saw that she would need to make some room for herself to work. Cassie chuckled again. Something was nagging at her, though, something that Visser Three had said. _Backup plan… what would he need a backup plan for? We all know that that… thing in Area 51 is completely useless._

__

Unless… unless he doesn't want it for what it does_, but for what it _is Cassie mused. Looking back at her homework, Cassie thought that over; it didn't seem like that important of a realization. She decided to put it aside for the day, or night as was the case now. Clearing off a space at her desk, Cassie sat down to work. _More geometry homework, great,_ Cassie thought sarcastically.

After awhile, Cassie got tired of working and decided to go to bed. Slipping out of the clothes that she had put on when she had landed in the barn, clothes that Rachel had bought for her, Cassie put on her favorite pair of pajamas. They were pink cotton and had pictures of dozing kittens all over them. Cassie liked kittens, even a little more than she liked most other animals.

__

Of course, if Rachel ever saw these, she would probably have a reason to tease me about it, Cassie laughed to herself. Rachel wasn't one for cute little things like kittens anymore. Climbing into bed, Cassie decided that she would think more about Visser Three's plans in the morning. Laying her head on the pillow, Cassie drifted off into sleep.

It wasn't all that long before Cassie woke up again; the thoughts that had been chasing each other around inside her head had finally settled into a coherent whole. However, the thoughts that Cassie was having now were not the kind that would let her rest peacefully; or at all. Cassie sat up abruptly, glad for once that she had forgotten to take her morphing outfit off when she had shed her regular clothes.

"So _that's_ why he wants it!" Cassie exclaimed, having a rather unfortunately timed epiphany. But she exclaimed quietly, since there were still other people asleep in the house. "It's not because it's anything important, but it _is_ an alien artifact. The Yeerks don't want us to even _know_ about life on other planets, let alone have tangible _proof_ of it."

One of the reasons that the secret Yeerk invasion of Earth was going so well, Cassie knew, was the fact that the average person didn't believe in aliens. But if the government said that there was proof of life on other planets, no matter how some people might distrust them, people would believe them. _That_ was why the Yeerks couldn't allow the Air Force to keep what they had out at Area 51.

Cassie debated sleeping on her new information; but at that moment she remembered something that had been lurking in the back of her mind since she had gotten back from Area 51 the first time: the sign-up sheet for the trip to The Gardens. That was what had prompted her to take Slade there to get his panther morph, but why would it be bothering her now?

__

Wait, Visser Three talked about a back-up plan; could that be it? Cassie realized that it probably was. _Of course, that would be the perfect time for him to infest all those poor people… Well, maybe not the _perfect_ time, but Visser Three has never been one for patience, and this will be the soonest opportunity he's going to get._ Tomorrow night at nineteen-hundred hours, whenever that was, The Gardens would be full of a lot of the people that staffed Area 51.

Cassie took a look at her bedside clock, grimacing. It was 2:03 in the morning. _So I guess that means I'm going to have to tell the others today. Gah, I hate Sundays._ Cassie sighed softly, Sunday was only a day away from Monday, after all, and Monday was Cassie's least favorite day of the week. _Just one more day before I have to go back to school,_ Cassie sighed again._ This hasn't been a very restful weekend at all._


	86. Pretend Normality

Flopping back into bed, Cassie closed her eyes and waited to fall back to sleep. She didn't have to wait very long.

In the morning when Cassie woke up, she at first had some trouble remembering what she had figured out in the early morning. _Oh, that's it, Visser Three is going to try to capture and infest the crew of Area 51 when they come to The Gardens at nineteen-hundred hours tonight. _Cassie frowned. _When _is_ nineteen-hundred hours? I can't very well plan to save those people if I don't even know when they're going to be in danger._

Cassie sat back against the wall of her room, trying to figure out what that time would translate to the way normal people measured it. _I really hate military time. Why can't those guys just use a standard clock like the rest of us?_ Deciding that she wasn't going to get anything done by just sitting in bed like she was doing now, Cassie got up and started shucking out of her pajamas.

Her bedside clock read 8:03 when she checked it. A little later than Cassie usually started her day, but not so late that her parents would be up and about. Glad that she was the only real early-riser in the house, Cassie hurried to start her day.

Tossing the nightclothes onto her semi-clean floor, Cassie went to the bathroom to wash up. Once she was done with that, Cassie came back up to her room to dress in something more appropriate to going outside and doing light chores. Picking new clothes out of her closet, Cassie made a mental note to take her dirty clothes down to the laundry room sometime soon.

Stopping in the kitchen, Cassie poured herself a bowl of cereal. Once she had finished eating, Cassie started to make some warm oatmeal for Slade. Glad again for the fact that her parents liked to sleep late on Sundays, Cassie collected a spoon, poured some maple syrup into the container full of oatmeal, stirred it until they were both thoroughly mixed, wiped the spoon clean on a napkin, closed up the container and threw the napkin in the trash.

Walking out to the barn, Cassie took a little time to enjoy the bright and sunny day. This kind of weather was getting more and more rare as early fall progressed into late. As if to remind Cassie of the changing seasons, the wind suddenly picked up, Cassie hurried into the shelter of the barn.

Once inside, Cassie waited for Slade's usual greeting before proceeding farther. She didn't have to wait for very long.

__

(Good morning, Cassie.)

Cassie smiled, walking up to the ladder and climbing up to the hayloft. Slade was nowhere in sight, but Cassie could still see the small fort of hay bales he had made for himself to hide behind. Carrying the container full of oatmeal over to where Slade had set up his bed/fort combination. Cassie could just make out the tip of one of Slade's feet.

Slade was very good about hiding if he knew that there was someone in the barn that he wasn't familiar with. But, if he knew and trusted the person who had come inside, Slade wouldn't hide himself with the same care that he would take in the other instance. Cassie walked around to the other side of the two stacks of hay-bales that Slade had made for himself to hide behind.

"How are you doing this morning, Slade?" she asked.

"Nothing to complain about but the hard floor," Slade said easily, grinning slightly with his usual good humor.

Cassie laughed quietly, and it wasn't that long before Slade had joined her. Cassie didn't want to make too much noise, since her parents would probably come to investigate any strange sounds in the barn, and two voices laughing when there was supposedly only one person inside would definitely qualify as strange. Leaving Slade to his breakfast, Cassie went out and climbed back down the ladder to the main floor of the barn.

Once she was back on level ground, Cassie started toward the sacks of animal feed that were always stored off to the side of the main floor area. Filling up the bucket that hung on a hook beside the feed bags, Cassie took it down and started walking along between the lines of cages, feeding the animals that had run low on food. When she had finished with that chore, Cassie went back over to the feedbags and hung up the bucket.

Taking down a structurally identical bucket, Cassie went outside to fill it with water from the pump that Walter had reinstalled when Cassie and her family had moved into the house next to their family's barn. Pumping out the requisite water was hard work, but Cassie was long used to it by now.

After she had finished watering the animals, Cassie went back into the house. Doing her chores was hungry work, and what Cassie wanted to do right now was have a nice big lunch. It _was _about the right time for that particular meal right now; Cassie had confirmed that both by the empty feeling in her stomach and a quick look at the watch she usually wore.

Back inside the kitchen, Cassie could see the recent evidence that her father had just been in to fix himself a sandwich. Cassie sighed; her father wasn't a sloppy man – no one who was sloppy or clumsy could have ever been as good a surgeon as he was – but he did have kind of a tendency to be absent-minded when the situation wasn't one of life or death. Quickly cleaning up the scattered detritus that her father had left behind, Cassie dumped it all in the trash. Washing her hands, Cassie then went to the refrigerator and dried them on the towel that hung on the handle.

Opening the fridge once her hand were all dry, Cassie looked at what she had to choose from. Picking out a mostly-full bowl of fruit salad, Cassie served herself some, then pulled out another clean Tupperware dish and filled it almost to the top. Sticking Slade's lunch and the remaining fruit salad back in the fridge so they wouldn't get hot, Cassie took a fork from the dish drainer and sat down to eat her own lunch.

Licking the last taste of pineapple off of her lips, Cassie went back to the refrigerator and took out the food she'd prepared for Slade. Heading back outside, Cassie took a moment to check and make sure that neither of her parents was outside where they could see what she was about to do. It would definitely seem weird to them that she was going into the barn with what was obviously a container of food. Especially since she had never been known to want to eat in there.


	87. Caretaker

Once she was sure that the coast was clear, Cassie hurried inside the barn and quickly made her way up the ladder. Cassie was trying to strike a balance between quiet enough that no one outside would hear her, and making enough noise that she wouldn't startle Slade. Cassie had learned from hard experience that it was not a good thing to take Slade by surprise if it could be at all avoided.

The first time Cassie had made that mistake was just after she had first met up with Slade, not more a day after she and the other Animorphs had rescued him from that strange underground prison, or whatever that creepy place out in the forest was. That time, she had almost been slammed into the floor when Slade had grabbed her ankle. The second time had been just before she, Rachel, Tobias, and Marco had been set to go one a mission.

Cassie had wanted to have Slade's help, figuring that the more experience he had with morphing, the more help he would be in situations where the Animorphs were called on to use their powers for subterfuge or attack. When Cassie had come around the front of the right-most hay-bale that Slade had been sheltering behind, the same thing that had happened that first time she had surprised Slade happened again. And again, it was only Slade's lightning-quick reflexes that had kept her from getting hurt.

The third time had been just before the debacle in the forest, the one that had resulted in Jake beginning to question his decision to rescue Slade in the first place. That time, Cassie had tried coming up from a different side of Slade's hiding place, under the mistaken impression that maybe coming in from a different place would somehow keep Slade from panicking and lashing out at her. In hindsight, Cassie now realized that that had been a pretty stupid assumption on her part.

Slade had been napping at the time, but the instant that Cassie had gotten close enough to be able to lean over him, Slade had snapped awake. Before Cassie had had a chance even to move, Slade had kicked her legs out from under her. And, as if that wasn't enough, Slade had grabbed her by the throat on the way down. Luckily for Cassie, Slade had come to his senses and let go before he could have caused any real damage.

Slade had apologized, as he always did when he found out that he'd over-reacted again, and Cassie had again reassured him that there had been no harm done. Cassie shook her head. _For someone who's supposed to be so incredibly observant, I can be really obtuse sometimes,_ Cassie chuckled to herself. Slade looked he had fallen asleep again, and for a minute Cassie wondered why Slade seemed to be so tired all the time.

Once Cassie had opened the container of fruit salad and let it stand for a little while though, Slade started to stir. Sniffing the air, Slade sat up and opened his eyes. Looking for the source of the mouth-watering scent he had just noticed, it wasn't very long before Slade noticed Cassie standing next to him.

"Hey Cassie," Slade said cheerily, smiling and leaning back against one of his hay-bales as Cassie sat down next to him. "What's that stuff you have in the container there? It smells really good."

"It's fruit salad, Slade. I figured you'd want some."

"Thanks, Cassie," Slade said, just before he started to eat.

Cassie had never stayed to watch Slade eat before, so this was a new piece of information for her. Slade ate ravenously, like he hadn't been fed for several days, instead of just several hours. Even as Cassie watched, Slade finished off the last of the fruit salad.

"Wow, what brought that on, Slade?" Cassie asked, once the last of the fruit salad was gone.

"Huh?" Slade looked up at Cassie, then back down at the empty Tupperware container that he was still holding. "Oh, this?" Slade asked a little sheepishly. "I don't know why I'm always so hungry, but for some reason I just can't seem to control myself when I'm around food."

Cassie considered that. "Maybe it has something to do with how you always seem to be sleeping when I come in to give you your meals."

Slade nodded. "Maybe."

What neither Slade or Cassie knew, and Cassie would definitely have cared if she had known, was that when Ness Carter had been changed into Slade by the Radam, his name, eating habits and personality hadn't been the only things to change. His very physiology, even down to the way his individual cells processed the energy they received from the food he ate, had been radically and permanently altered. In effect, Slade was no longer human at all.

The reason he was so hungry and tired all the time was twofold, the first having to do with his altered physiology. The other part was far more complex, and directly related to his place in the Radam hierarchy. Slade was an Enforcer Teknoman, one of the lower caste. Enforcers were tied to their base and by extension to their Warlord commander by the facts of their own biology. An Enforcer Teknoman was indeed far faster and stronger than even the greatest human athlete could ever hope to be, but they also burned a great deal more energy to maintain that strength.

Hunters – who were of a higher caste than the Enforcers – had almost the same level of strength as their lower-caste counterparts, but the Hunters also had greater stamina and the instinctive knowledge to use their strength to its best effect. Also, Hunters and Enforcers had drastically different ways of thinking. When confronted with the exact same scenario, Enforcer Teknomen like Slade would just slam their way through whatever came at them; while a Hunter would take time to observe the situation before striking out at the heart of it.

Or, put another way, Enforcers were inclined to rip a person's head off, while a Hunter would more likely stab them in the heart from behind. All of this was the reason for Slade's fatigue and above-average appetite, since most Teknomen, Hunters and Enforcers alike, spent most of their time in a strange state of quasi-hibernation. Since Slade had been… removed from the Radam, he had none of the extra reserves of energy that the Radam automatically provided for their warriors.

Thus Slade was forced to depend on his more limited human energies, and with the vast amounts of energy required to power his Teknocircuts – to say nothing of the nearly astronomical energy he would use up if and when he ever transformed – Slade's body was starting to show the strain from all the changes that he had undergone.

"Maybe I should start bringing you more food, too," Cassie suggested.

"I think I'd like that," Slade said, giving Cassie one of his well-known half-smiles.

"Well, have a nice day Slade," Cassie clapped a hand on Slade's left shoulder and he handed her the empty Tupperware container, which she put in a bag that she then slung over her shoulder, before she turned and walked back to the ladder that would take her out of the hayloft.

Once Cassie had left, Slade found that his eyelids were getting heavy again. Laying down again, Slade closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep for the fifth time that day.

Outside the barn, Cassie looked over her shoulder at the barn. She wondered what could possibly be happening to Slade that would make him so hungry and tired all the time. _It probably has something to do with where Jake found him, but I just hope that it's not anything that's going to be too dangerous for him… or for us._

Cassie sighed, walking back into the kitchen to drop the Tupperware off in the sink. Sitting in the kitchen eating a sandwich, however, was Aisha.

"Hey Cassie, it's been a while since I last saw you," Aisha said pleasantly. "What have you been doing all morning?"

"Feeding and watering the animals," _and taking care of Slade,_ Cassie added silently.

"Well, since you're here now, why don't we have some late lunch together?" Aisha asked, noticing the container in Cassie's hands but choosing not to bring it up.

Cassie had had lunch already, and was about to say so, when she thought about Slade. He _had_ said that he was still hungry. "All right mom, let's have lunch together."

"Great," Aisha said happily. "I'll go make you a sandwich. What would you like on yours, turkey or ham?"

"I'd like turkey, please. And could I have some Sun Chips, too?" Cassie asked, thinking that while she snacked the Sun Chips, since she wasn't all that hungry, Slade could have the sandwich.

"Okay, I'll get some for you. Do you want anything to drink?"

"Just water, thanks."

"Suit yourself," Aisha said, turning back to the cutting board where she was slicing up tomatoes for Cassie's sandwich. Once Aisha had finished that, she started putting together the separate ingredients.

Once Aisha had finished making Cassie's sandwich, she pulled the half-full bag of Sun Chips off the shelf. _I've got to remember to buy some more of these soon. We all like them so much, we just get a bag and then poof, it's all gone,_ Aisha chuckled to herself in rueful good-humor.

Once Cassie had finished her meal of Sun Chips, during which she and her mother had talked and Cassie was again made to promise that she would never worry her family again by staying out so late without at least telling one of her parents where she was going, Cassie had finally managed to get away from her mother on the pretext of going up to her room to rest. Cassie had never wanted to lie to her mother, but she had learned that some things were necessary.

Walking back out to the barn, after checking that the way was clear and she wouldn't be seen, Cassie carried the freshly wrapped sandwich that her mom had made. Peeking into the barn to make sure it was empty, Cassie went inside again. Hurrying over to the ladder, Cassie climbed back into the hayloft. Striding over to the stacked bales of hay, Cassie peeked around the corner of the right stack.

Sure enough, there was Slade, asleep on the floor again the way he had been when she had first come to bring him his lunch. _Poor Slade, I just wish I knew what was happening to you._ Cassie nudged Slade's shoulder, and then quickly moved back so she wouldn't get caught by whatever he was going to do.

Slade's eyes snapped open. Kicking out, Slade flipped himself over in the time it took Cassie to blink twice. His head whipped left and right, before Slade looked right at her.

"Cassie? What are you doing back here so soon?"

"You said you were still hungry, Slade," Cassie smiled. "So I thought I'd bring you some more food."

Stepping closer and kneeling, Cassie offered Slade the sandwich to Slade. He took it at once, ripping off the plastic wrap that Cassie had used to cover it while the sandwich had been in the 'fridge. Since the sandwich was a relatively large one, Cassie almost expected Slade to be satisfied with it. Almost.

Once Slade had finished the sandwich, which only took him a little longer than the bowl of fruit salad, he started licking the remains off his fingers. Picking up the discarded plastic wrapper, Cassie grinned.

"So, I take it you liked the sandwich, Slade?"

"A lot," Slade nodded. "I wish it hadn't been so small, though."

Cassie and Slade both chuckled, and Cassie shook her head in fond exasperation. Slade was a strange one, that was for sure. _But it's not like I haven't dealt with things that were just as strange, or even stranger than Slade,_ Cassie smiled to herself as she climbed back down out of the hayloft.

Once she had gotten out of the barn, Cassie noticed that dusk was just starting to fall. Looking at her watch, Cassie found that it was a little past six o'clock. _Wow, it's getting really late, I guess I should go help mom and dad start dinner._


	88. Gathering Forces

After dinner, Cassie went back up to her room to lay down. As she climbed the stairs, Cassie had the nagging feeling that she had forgotten something, something that could be important. _I'm sure I'll remember what it was sooner or later._ Cassie had already given Slade his food, making sure that it was a larger portion than what she had given him for breakfast.

Now, though, Cassie was ready to get to bed. She only wished that tomorrow were Saturday instead of Sunday. _I guess I can't have everything I want all the time,_ Cassie had to laugh at herself then, knowing that even thought she only had one day of vacation left, she would still take the time to enjoy it._ Maybe I shouldn't call it that, since it's really not much of a vacation when you work all the time._

Flipping back her covers and laying down, Cassie thought for a minute about the thing she had forgotten. _I'm sure I'll remember_, Cassie thought again with a yawn, pulling up her covers and drifting off to sleep.

Cassie abruptly sat up. _Area 51! The people, the Yeerks want to infest them! I have to tell the others!_ Rolling quickly off her bed, Cassie almost literally tore off her pajamas. Quickly getting dressed in her usual morphing outfit, she morphed into an owl in what seemed to her to be record time. Hopping up onto the windowsill, Cassie flew out of her room and headed for the barn.

Flying in through the hayloft, Cassie spotted Slade very quickly. _Sleeping again, not like I expected anything different._

(Slade, Slade wake up! There's some people that are going to be infested by the Yeerks if we don't help them. I need you to get up so we can get the other Animorphs.)

__

(I hear you Cassie,) Slade said, rolling over and pushing himself to his feet. _(What do you want me to do?)_

(I want you to morph into the raven you acquired, and then I need you to follow me. We're going to go get the others.)

__

(Right. I'll be with you in a few seconds Cassie.)

Slade managed to morph almost as fast as Cassie had, and soon he had joined her on the windowsill.

(Okay, let's get going,) Cassie said, turning around on the windowsill, just before she flew out of the barn. Slade followed as well as he could, but he found that he couldn't see nearly as well as he could the last time he used this particular morph. He couldn't even see as well as he could when he was in his normal body.

(Cassie, I don't want to worry you, but I think there might be something wrong with my morph. It's like it can't see as well as it used to.)

(It's night, Slade,) Cassie explained patiently. (Your raven morph is a bird of prey, and birds of prey don't see very well at night. I wish we had had an owl for you to acquire, but there aren't any injured owls in the barn right now. I know, I've checked.)

(Oh,) Slade said. (Well, it's good to know that there isn't anything wrong with me.)

After that, Cassie and Slade flew on in silence.

Once all seven Animorphs were together, it was Rachel who started the conversation.

(All right Cass, since it was you who arranged this little meeting, maybe you could tell the rest of us just what's going on, hmm?)

(Did any of you guys who went with me to Area 51 that first time remember seeing a sign-up sheet on the wall? Marco? Rachel? Slade?) Cassie asked.

(I was a little preoccupied with the forty-thousand Air Force guys waving guns at us and threatening to call our parents,) Marco said slyly.

(They weren't waving guns at us, and there was nowhere near forty-thousand of them,) Slade countered, not seeming to appreciate Marco's idea of humor. (But, I didn't notice any sign-up sheets either.)

(Neither did I,) Rachel said. (What was the sign-up sheet for?)

(The one that I paid most attention to was the one that was for a trip to The Gardens for all of the high-ranking officers, or whatever you call them,) Cassie explained. (I don't think there were any others.)

(Okay, so what's so important about a sign-up sheet for a trip to where your mom works?) Jake asked, patiently waiting for Cassie to explain why she had them all out at nearly seven-thirty in the evening.

(You remember how Visser Three was talking about how he had a backup plan to get to the people of Area 51 when he was talking to those Horse-Controllers?) Cassie asked. (I think I might know what it is.)

(What is it?) Jake asked.

(I'm pretty sure that what Visser Three intends to do is go after all the high-ranking people when they're all at The Gardens on their trip,) Cassie explained. (That's what the sign-up sheet was for. I don't know exactly how Visser Three found out about it, but I think we all know by now that he won't have the patience to wait for a better opportunity to infest them.)

(Okay, so now that we know why we're here, what are we going to do about it?) Rachel asked.

(We're going to stop them,) Slade said firmly. Then, realizing that he had spoken out of turn, Slade became uncertain. (Aren't we?)

(Of course we are, Slade,) Cassie rushed to assure him.

(So, now that we all know what we're out here this late for, why don't we hurry up? Cassie, what time are the Area 51 personnel scheduled to arrive, do you know?) Jake asked, picking up the thread of inquiry where Rachel had left off.

(Eight o'clock, that's what it said on the sign-up sheet.) _Well, more or less,_ Cassie thought to herself uncertainly. Cassie wondered if she should tell the other Animorphs about the trouble she'd had translating the time written on the sign-up sheet into something resembling normal time. Then she decided not to, it probably wasn't that important anyway.


	89. Second Attempt

(All right,) Jake said decisively, now that all the details had been worked out. (We have half an hour to get to The Gardens and get set up. That may seem like a lot of time, but we can't afford to waste any of it. Let's get going.)

(Don't you guys just love it when Jake's all forceful like this?) Marco asked teasingly.

(Will you put a sock in it already Marco?) Slade said impatiently. (We don't have the time for your inane comments.)

(Slade's right, we don't have the time for this,) Rachel said. (Let's get going already.)

The seven Animorphs fell into a loose formation behind Cassie, and then they started their journey to The Gardens.

The seven Animorphs were now inside The Gardens' airspace. Those in owl morph could clearly see the winding pathways that stretched all through both halves of The Gardens, wildlife park and amusement park. All that Slade could make out in his current morph, though, were the lighted parts. And even those he couldn't see very well.

(Hey, I saw people down there!) Cassie exclaimed. (There aren't supposed to be any people in The Gardens until eight o'clock!)

(If _they're_ inside already, then you can just bet that the Yeerks are there with them,) Rachel said grimly. (What happed to the plan that they weren't coming till eight? That's what the time on the sign-up sheet was, right Cassie?)

(Well, the time on the sign-up sheet was listed as nineteen hundred hours,) Cassie said. (But that _is_ eight o'clock, right?)


	90. Lost Time

(Uh, no!) Marco exclaimed. (Man, these guys have been here for an hour already! The Yeerks may have already infested their targets!)

(Are those the right guys down there?) Cassie asked. (The group from Area 51?)

Keeping his voice carefully free of any hints of accusation, Jake answered. (There are a lot of twenty- and thirty-year-old guys with short hair. A lot of crewcuts. All in all, it's a very military-looking crowd down there.)

(Good,) Slade said. (At least we know we're in the right place.)

Cassie was berating herself for being stupid, for giving the Yeerks ample time to infest more innocent people, and for not telling the other Animorphs about the thoughts she had been having. _I could be personally responsible for a bunch of innocent people being infested by the Yeerks!_

(Either way, we have to get down there,) Marco said. (But I wonder who's back at the base guarding the Toilet From Outer Space?)

(I'm sure there are still plenty of people back at Area 51,) Jake said. (And, in any case, that's not our current problem. Our problem is that we have no more time to figure out what the rest of the Yeerks plans are. All that we know right now is that the Yeerks are probably going to use this place to infest the higher-ranking officers from Area 51. The question is, where? Where, in a park this big and public, could the Yeerks be able to make their move with the kind of privacy they would want?)

Now was not the time for self-recriminations, Cassie knew, so she stopped berating herself for her failure. (There are two possible places. The Yeerks would want to be able to grab people without the risk of being seen, right?) Cassie asked, knowing that it was a rhetorical question but unable to keep herself from asking. (The log ride is dark inside. They could either use that, or the House of Horrors ride. Those are the only places that the Yeerks could use without being spotted.)

(Okay, so we'll split up,) Jake said, getting down to business now that all of the particulars of this new mission had been worked out. (Cassie, Marco, Slade and I will go to investigate the log ride. Rachel, you Ax and Tobias go check out the House of Horrors.)

(We're on it, Jake,) Rachel said, as she and her group formed into a loose squadron and flew off into the night.


	91. Darkness is Fallen

(How could I have been so stupid?) Cassie asked, not really expecting anyone to answer.

(You weren't stupid,) Jake said. (None of us would have known about Visser Three's plan if you hadn't told us.)

(Yeah, even I wasn't paying any attention to any of those sign-up sheets the way you were,) Slade said, trying to console Cassie.

(Thanks, Slade,) Cassie acknowledged, a weary smile conveyed in her tone.

(For future reference, all you need to do is subtract twelve,) Marco informed her.

(What?) Cassie was still confused.

(To translate military time,) Marco clarified. (All that you have to do is subtract twelve.) Then, almost as an afterthought, he added, (_Duh_.)

The four Animorphs landed on a plaster and cement construct that was rather convincingly made-up to be a mountain: the entrance to the log ride. Slade was more eager than the other three to regain his human form; he was getting edgy with being in unfamiliar territory with an unknown amount of enemies and not being able to see very well.

(Now what?) Marco asked, echoing Slade's thoughts. (We need to get inside now. Can we fly in?)

(Yes, we could,) Jake allowed. (But in these bird morphs we wouldn't be able too much more than flap our wings. We need to be human for this part of the job.)

(And, there's also the fact that Slade can barely see in his currant morph,) Cassie said, since Slade wouldn't have admitted to having a weakness on his own.

(All right then,) Marco said.

They all started demorphing at the same time, but Cassie and Slade still ended up finishing before Jake and Marco. Climbing down from just below the top of the false mountain wasn't anywhere near as easy as flying over the park had been, but Slade was glad to have his normal powers of sight back. Once all four of them were on level ground, Jake noticed a problem that he hadn't even considered before: Slade's eyes.

The irises were glowing a low but steady green. Jake wondered for a minute if Slade was being controlled again, but Tobias had said that his entire eye, pupil, white and all had been hidden by the glow when Jake had asked him for more detail about the incident when Slade had been mind-controlled by an unknown Radam.

But this time, Jake had a feeling that Slade's glowing irises weren't due to any outside influence.

"Whoa," Marco gaped. "Slade, what's up with your eyes?"

"What? What do you mean?" Slade asked, confused and just starting to become unnerved by Marco's intense scrutiny.

"Cassie, take a look at him," Marco said. "Do _you_ think this is normal? You have known him better than the rest of us, after all."

"Slade, come over here so I can get a better look at you," Cassie said.

Slade obligingly turned and walked over to where Cassie was standing. She only needed a quick glance at his eyes to see what was making her friends so agitated.

"Wow, I never noticed _that_ before. Slade, you look like a cat!" Cassie giggled, but then quickly sobered when she realized the problems that would come about if any non-Animorph noticed Slade's strange eyes. "Oh, that's not so good," Cassie said. "I don't think there's anything we can do about it, short of having him walk around with his eyes closed, which would draw more attention than anything, I think. Slade, just stay toward the back of the group and try not to look anyone in the eye, okay?"

"All right," Slade nodded.

"Okay, now that we've taken care of that problem," _at least as best that we can_, Jake added silently. "Let's go in and do what we came here to do."

There was a unanimous agreement on this, and the four Animorphs quickly made their way into the main crowd. They were the subject of a few inquisitive stares, but the four were for the most part ignored. There were, even at this late hour, people who were dressed in an even stranger outfits then the four of them.


	92. Chase through the night

Cassie had seen that the lines for all the rides were very short, and that made sense to her since the only people inside the park at this time were the high-ranking officers from Area 51, some of the children of those same officers, employees of The Gardens itself, and of course the Animorphs. As the officers walked into the entrance of the log ride, the Animorphs fell into step just behind them.

Of course, Cassie had suspected that the staff at a top-secret Air Force base wouldn't actually list Area 51 as their workplace, and she had been right. They had listed their workplace as Gondor Industries, something that any J.R.R. Tolkien fan would probably find very funny. Gondor Industries was a completely fabricated company, thought up by one of the junior officers as a joke.

When it came time for the Animorphs to get into one of the log boats, all four of them climbed into the same one. Cassie and Jake sat together in the front row, while Marco and Slade took the second. A man and a woman who were seemingly unfamiliar to any of the Animorphs sat behind them in the back row.

As the log boat started moving, Marco could practically _feel_ the tension radiating off of Jake, who was sitting directly in front of him. Marco, being Marco, naturally decided to do something about it.

"You know, this whole thing would be a whole lot more fun if there wasn't the usual risk of dying associated with it. We've done so many things like that already that it's starting to lose its thrill. I personally love the log ride, it's not as great as the coasters of course, but the big drop at the end is really cool."

Behind Marco and Slade, someone else had also heard Marco's joke. But Lance Torrelli didn't find it very funny.

"That voice," Lance muttered just loud enough for Slade and Marco to hear him. "I know that voice!"

Cassie, Slade and Marco all turned around to find out who the speaker was, forgetting in their haste that Slade had been advised not to look anyone in the eye. Fortunately for the Animorphs, Torrelli was too preoccupied to notice Slade's strange eyes, unfortunately for them, he was preoccupied with the Animorphs themselves. Or at least the three he had seen before.

"You!" Torrelli shouted, glaring more at Cassie than at the other two, even as the log boat they were all in started to clank its way up the chain-lift that would take it to the top of the artificial hill.

"Oh, _that's_ not good!" Marco exclaimed, looking at the decidedly unhappy face of the man who had been their interrogator when they had taken their first, unintentional, trip into Area 51.

"What, what is it?" Jake asked, turning in his seat to try and see who was behind them. Slade and Marco were in his way, though.

Cassie, Slade, Marco, Torrelli and Jake were all pushed back into their seats when the log boat started to gain speed up the steep incline. Torrelli's girlfriend, Celia Henderson, had already been leaning back in her seat and so was spared from most of this.

"You three are under arrest!" Torrelli shouted, glad to finally have a bead on his new least favorite people on earth.

"What's going on?" Celia asked, not understanding what would make Lance react this way; they were just a bunch of kids, after all.

"Yeah, what _is_ going on?" Jake asked, careful not to use any of his friends' names, since there was an obviously unfriendly guy sitting two rows behind him.

"It's the guy from Area 51," Cassie leaned sideways to whisper in Jake's ear. "He just recognized Slade, Marco and me."

"Great, do you think anything _else_ is going to go wrong tonight? Because I'd just like to plan ahead," Jake whispered back.

"None of you kids had better move!" Torrelli commanded, hoping somehow that those teenagers would listen to him this time.

Unfortunately, that was not to be. At that moment, the log boat reached the top of the chain lift. For a minute or so it hung there at the top, seemingly in defiance of the laws of physics, but then gravity reasserted itself. The boat started to tip forward slightly, then fell with frightening speed down the sharp incline of the hill.

"Aaaahhhhh!" Celia yelled, flinging her arms back and enjoying the feel of wind through her hair.

"Aaaaahhhhh!" Cassie screamed, because she hated thrill rides more than almost anything else in the world.

"You three are _mine_!" Torrelli shouted, leaning forward to try to catch hold of at least one of the kids sitting in front of him. He managed to grab onto Vincent Valentine's left shoulder, but the tall black-haired boy turned more quickly than he was prepared to deal with, delivering a vicious palm-heel strike to Torrelli's face.

Slade felt the bones in the Captain's nose break under the impact of his hand, then the sudden whoosh of air rushing past as the boat they were all in slid down the fake hill. The large and abrupt splash of water came as somewhat of a surprise, but it really shouldn't have considering how fast their boat had been going. Slade took a moment to reorient himself; looking around at where their boat had taken them.

They were now in what looked like a very good replica of a logging camp, complete with mannequins made up to look like lumberjacks. Slade saw Jake lean back and turn to look at Cassie. He didn't mean to eavesdrop, but in the confined space of the boat and with Slade's own enhanced hearing, it wasn't as if he could help it.

"If the Yeerks are going to strike here, they'll do it in the tunnel up ahead," Jake informed her. "It's like the Tunnel of Love, very dark inside."

__

The perfect place to conceal an ambush, Slade thought to himself. Cassie, meanwhile, was wondering just how Jake knew what the inside of the Tunnel of Love ride looked like. But she wasn't going to ask, now was not the time for anyone to get distracted, least of all Jake.

"Either way we're all going to have to bail out of here quickly, or we'll never be able to lose the Captain," Cassie said practically.

Slade said nothing, but he agreed completely with her. Marco, having a sudden idea, turned to face Captain Torrelli, ignoring the thin trickle of blood still coming from the man's nose, Marco spoke. "You know, I don't really think you can arrest us. I mean, you're with the military police, right? and, the last time I checked, this place did _not_ count as a military base."

Torrelli glared, though that Fox Mulder kid did have a point, Torrelli wasn't about to give the kid anymore satisfaction than he was probably already getting from the fact that his good buddy Vincent had just broken Torrelli's nose. Pulling his cellphone out of his jacket pocket, Torrelli punched in a number that he had come to know very well. "Gardens security? This is Captain Lance Torrelli, security code number eight-seven-two-niner-niner. I need-"

The rest of Torrelli's sentence was drowned out to everyone but himself and the person he was speaking to, by Slade giving Marco a stiff swat upside the head.

"Thanks a lot for making things that much harder for us, _Fox_," Slade hissed, making sure to use the name Marco had given when they had all met up with the Captain, to avoid further suspicion on his part.

"Well, how was I supposed to know that he had a direct line to the security in this place, _Vinny_?" Marco shot back. "And how about hitting me a little harder next time? I think my skull is still intact."

"Make me angry enough and I just might," Slade growled.

"Knock it off, you two," Jake ordered. "This really isn't the time or the place to start a fight."

Slade nodded once, acknowledging Jake's authority. Marco was about to make another one of his cutting remarks, but Jake glared at him and he shut up.

"This is going to make things a lot harder for us to get anything done," Cassie whispered.

"I know," Jake said in a voice low enough not to carry beyond the second row of seats. "Stay on guard, the tunnel's coming up now."

The rest of the Animorphs tensed, as the log boat banged through a door and entered a room that was completely dark. There was no light at all to be seen, save for the feeble amount put out by Slade's eyes. Slade himself could make out the walls and ceiling of the room they were in, but even his enhanced vision had its limits, and Slade couldn't make out much beyond that.

Cassie looked around too, but with her dimmer human vision Cassie might as well have been blind. Standing up, Cassie started to step out of the right side of the boat. Slade, by sheer luck, happened to glance in that direction just before Cassie would have fallen out.

__

(Cassie, wait! Don't!) Slade lunged forward, clamping his hands around Cassie's wrists and hauling her back into the boat through sheer muscle-power. "Are you all right?" he asked quietly.

"I'm fine," Cassie reassured him, just as quietly as Slade himself had spoken.

But in the same row next to Slade, Marco was not so fine. Captain Torrelli had gotten the idea to use the darkness – where he figured that those kids wouldn't be able to evade him nearly as well as they had been doing so far, and no snot-nosed punk was going to punch him in the face again – to cover his movements. Grabbing blind, Torrelli squeezed someone's shoulder harshly.

Marco felt the tips of someone's fingers digging into the bony part of his shoulder. Trying to pull out of the offending grip, Marco found that the owner of the hand was reaching forward from behind the seat instead of sideways. So it couldn't be Slade then, and that only left one other person.

"Let go of me, you overstuffed army jerk!" Marco shouted.

"You and your little buddies are all coming with me!" Torrelli grunted. "Who's the other guy up there? One of your other accomplices that I didn't have the 'pleasure' of meeting?"

"As if I'm going to tell you," Marco scoffed. "What business do you think it is of yours, anyway?"

"It comes with being an 'overstuffed army jerk', I believe those were your exact words," Torrelli smirked in a distinctly unpleasant manner.

"Call me overoptimistic, but I don't think Vincent's going to go along with your plan without some heavy-duty 'persuasion'."

Torrelli gritted his teeth, remembering the painful little 'lesson' that he had gotten in Why Not To Mess With Vincent Valentine. When the boat came out of the tunnel at last, Torrelli was still fuming. "You kids are going to do some serious hard time for this, I swear," Torrelli growled. "If it's the last thing I do, I'm going to make you kids pay for this."

__

This is really not good, Marco berated himself silently. _There are times I think it would just be better to keep my big mouth shut._ Not that Marco would admit something like that out loud. Ever. The boat turned suddenly, and Marco braced himself to avoid being slammed into Slade. His efforts were mostly successful, and he only ended up bumping into the larger boy's shoulder.

Cassie was watching the walls, now that she could see again, looking for any sign of a Yeerk ambush in the making. But neither she nor Jake were able to spot anything of the kind. Looking ahead, Cassie saw the log boat that had been in front of them disappear suddenly. Squeezing Jake's arm convulsively, Cassie leaned over to him.

"Jake, what's going on?" Cassie whispered, afraid of what was going to happen.

"Ohh, the waterfall's coming up!" but that happy squeal did not come from the boy sitting next to her, it had come from the woman sitting in the back row. For Celia, the best part of any thrill ride were the high drops.

"There's a _waterfall_ coming up?" Cassie demanded desperately but quietly, tightening her grip.

"Yeah, a big one," Jake whispered back, internally debating the merits of asking Cassie to let go of his arm against the fact that she was obviously calmer than she might have otherwise been. Jake had asked her to go on a roller-coaster with him once, and only once, and when they had gotten to the end she had told him that it wasn't something she ever wanted to do again.

In the end, Jake decided to let Cassie hold on to his arm for as long as she felt she needed to. As the boat edged ever closer to the waterfall at the end of the ride, Cassie's grip tightened to the point where Jake was sure he was going to have fingernail marks in his arm until the next time he morphed.


	93. House of Horrors

As the log boat went over the last waterfall, Torrelli made another grab for Marco. Out of the corner of his left eye, Slade caught sight of the captain trying to make his move again. In the time it took Marco to blink twice, Slade turned in his seat and grabbed Torrelli's wrists in his steel-strong grasp.

"You don't learn very quickly, do you?" Slade snarled.

"I'm one of those stubborn types," Torrelli growled.

"More like one of those _stupid_ types," Slade scoffed.

Both men glared at each other, and Torrelli was so busy hating Slade at that moment that he didn't even take any notice of Slade's glowing eyes. it was a good thing, too, since Slade wasn't going to any lengths to hide his eyes. Pulling backwards on the captain's wrists, Slade hauled him out of his seat. And then, bracing his knee against his own seat, Slade threw Torrelli as far away from the log boat as he could manage.

Just as he turned around, Slade heard the captain's enraged shouting, something about how he would have their heads for this or some such crap.

Jake turned back to look at Slade. "Where's the captain?"

Slade smirked. "I think he missed the boat."

Behind them, Torrelli started ranting again. By the time their boat had almost reached the end of the ride, Torrelli had managed to swim to the edge of the channel that the boat was traveling in, not that the rest of the Animorphs would find this out until they were almost off the ride. Once the log boat had come to the end of the end of the artificial river, the Animorphs got themselves ready to leave the ride.

"I guess this ride _wasn't_ the one the Yeerks were using," Jake said, just loudly enough so that only his friends would be able to hear, as the four Animorphs left the boat and started walking away from the ride. "No one tried to jump out and attack us, with the possible exception of Captain Torrelli."

"So it _is _the House of Horrors," Cassie said, nodding. "We should get there as fast as we can, Rachel and the others are probably going to need our help."

Slade turned suddenly, his keen senses having spotted someone sneaking up on them. Or trying to at least, there weren't many things that could get past him, now that he knew not to ignore the data his enhanced senses were capable of gathering. "We're going to have to move a little more quickly, then. There's someone trying to come up behind us."

Just after Slade had made this pronouncement, the other Animorphs were able to make out the sound of swift footfalls coming ever closer to their position.

"He's right, we gotta get going!" Marco exclaimed, and he the others all started running.

The soft slapping of bare feet was overshadowed by the shouts of the security forces as they pursued the Animorphs. Slade and Jake, who were by far the best runners, soon pulled ahead of Cassie and Marco. Jake, however, was unwilling to leave the others behind to fend for themselves, so he slowed down a bit to keep pace with them. Slade, finding that he was suddenly alone at the forefront of the group, slowed his rapid pace as well.

Once they all had reached the House of Horrors, the only one who wasn't at least a little tired was Slade himself. Cassie and Marco were by far the worst off, though, and Cassie was stooped over while trying to regain her breath.

"Now what?" Marco panted.

"Now we have to go find Rachel and the others, they're probably already in position," Jake paused, thinking for a second. "For that matter, so are the Yeerks, we're going to have to be careful about what we say, since there might even be a few Controllers among the security here."

"Jake," Cassie closed the distance between herself and her fellow Animorph as she spoke. Marco and Slade also came closer, both to keep anyone else from accidentally overhearing, and to hear better themselves. "Rachel and the others are going to be in morph, we don't know for sure what kind of morphs they're going to be using this time. It's going to be harder to find them when we don't know what they are."

"Yes, it is," Jake conceded. "And, we're also going to have to find out if the Yeerks are using this place as a base of operations for infesting the personnel from Area 51. If they are, we have to stop them."

"Yeah, and we're also going to have to figure out if they're going to be normal Human-Controllers or Hork-Bajir, or Taxxons," Marco said, sighing. "Great, this night just keeps getting better and better."

"Well, we'd better get going then," Slade said. "We're wasting our time just standing out here."

"Yeah, the more time we spend out here, the more risk there is of Torrelli or The Gardens security finding us," Cassie said, as the four of them started walking again.

"Right, that too," Jake nodded.

"Has anyone ever considered the fact that there's a possibility that maybe we're all just nuts?" Marco asked sardonically. "I mean, we're all standing here in these weird little aerobic outfits, with no shoes, trying to stay away from all the security this place can throw at us, and meanwhile we're trying to find a bunch of brain-stealing aliens who may or may not be using this ride as their temporary base of operations. And the reason that we're all here freezing our butts off as opposed to being nice and warm in our beds at home is that the leader of the aliens wants to find out what's in The Most Secret Place on Earth, which we all happen to know about. Does anyone stop to think about the fact that what we're trying to do here is completely _crazy_?"

"No," Slade said flatly.

Marco gave Slade a look, but ignored him and pressed on. "I mean, have you ever thought that this is all something we dreamed up, like some sort of mass hallucination? And that we're all inmates in some hospital for the hopelessly wacko?"

"We _are_ trying to save the world here, Marco," Cassie said.

"Yeah, well that's what all crazy people say, isn't it," Marco commented slyly.

Slade shook his head, and Jake made his way to the front of the group so he could deal with anyone or anything they might encounter. "Come along, my wacko friends. We still have things to do before we leave."

Jake led the four of them to the line in front of the House of Horrors ride. It was a short one, like all the others in the park. Looking ahead, Cassie could see that this ride involved cars on a steel track, as opposed to log boats floating in water. She was grateful that at least there wouldn't be any water this time around.

There was an empty car in front of them, with room enough for six people to sit in it. Not unlike the log boats that they had all traveled in previously, and Cassie wondered for a minute if all the rides in the park were set up like this. She had personally never been interested in the side of the park that had those rides, having spent all her time in the wildlife park areas.

It was a real change for her to be out and about in the amusement park areas, but it wasn't really an experience that Cassie would want to repeat any time soon. As they all piled into the car, Cassie saw that another person was getting on the same car with the four Animorphs. It was a man that looked like he was in his late twenties or early thirties. He had a crewcut and was very military looking. The man smiled at Cassie.

"Are you sure that you kids aren't too young to go on this ride?" he asked kindly.

"I'm sure, sir," Cassie smiled back. "We're all pretty good at handling scary things." _And even that's a bit of an understatement. We've done things that no one in their right mind would believe._

"I don't see any of the others here," Jake said quietly, worried that the other Animorphs might have run into something that even they couldn't handle.

"Relax Jake, if they got here so long before us, they're probably in position right now," Slade said, trying to reassure his apprehensive leader.

"Right. You're probably right, Slade," Jake nodded.

Over the soft sound of Jake and Slade's conversation, the booming synthesized laughter of a mechanical skeleton echoed in a vain attempt to be ominous. Vain, that is, to the Animorphs and the soldier who was sitting behind them. He thought it was funny, they all just thought it was lame.

"Beware! Beware all ye that enter here! Beware the horrors that lie within!" another synthesized voice, over another hidden speaker, yelled. Again trying and failing to be scary.

A mechanical pirate, holding his own severed head and screaming, jerkily waved a scimitar at them. An animatronic snake, looking like a giant green cobra, bared huge fangs at them and hissed. Glittery green eyes glared at them.

"Yeah, yeah, could all of this get any faker?" Marco rolled his eyes. Slade shook his head, also not seeing any point to all of this.

"Why are you kids all so cynical?" the man asked, chuckling in good-natured humor at all of the fake-looking animatronics.

"We all watch way too much TV," Marco said, with a sidelong smirk at the man sitting behind him.

"Oh, well, then that explains everything," he said, grinning back at Marco.


	94. Bandit Battle

Their car spun around suddenly, before turning and driving _backwards_ through the door and into the next dark room. In a flash of artificial lightning, Marco, Cassie, Jake and Slade saw that an old nemesis of theirs was sitting in a car that, by either design or extreme misfortune, was only half a car-length away from them. Captain Torrelli had also brought along as large a force of The Gardens' security as would fit in the car with him.

"Oh, this is _so_ not good," Marco muttered, just loudly enough for Slade to hear him.

"What is _with_ that guy?" Cassie wondered aloud.

"Hey back there, Captain!" the man with the crew-cut shouted. "Are you having fun?" he laughed. "I know I sure am!"

"Airman Jones!" Torrelli shouted right back. "Don't let those kids get away from you!"

"These kids right here?" Jones asked, wondering why his commanding officer sounded so determined. Not that he didn't sound that way normally, but usually not over something as trivial as a bunch of teenagers.

"Yes, I'm talking about _those_ kids!" Torrelli shouted back, just beginning to really get pissed off. "Or at least that girl, and those two black-haired boys!"

"That Torrelli, what a kidder," Cassie said desperately, trying to deflect Airman Jones' sudden interest in her.

"Captain Lance Torrelli has never told a joke in all the time I've known him," Airman Jones stated, narrowing his eyes suspiciously. "You kids are going to have to stay with me, at least until the Captain can have a talk with you."

While this conversation had been going on, their car had been banging and jerking its way though the House of Horrors ride. Right now, their car was facing forward, and the remainder of the Animorphs were being shrieked at by a flight of obviously fake ghosts. Jake couldn't help but compare them to his encounters with Starfire, even though there was nothing even remotely similar about talking with someone who had taken awhile to even admit that they were dead, and looking upwards at a low-budget holographic show.

Then, then the ride started to get serious. Either someone had, somehow, managed to design and build six perfect replicas of Hork-Bajir warriors, complete down to the last smallest detail, or there really _were_ a bunch of Yeerks running loose inside the ride. The one thing that tipped the balance in favor of the second option was the fact that Visser Three, head of the Yeerks' forces on Earth, was standing there behind them.

No one who had seen the Visser in his natural form would get away with it; they would either be killed or they would be made into a Controller.

"Okay, _now_ I'm scared," Marco said, once he had caught sight of all the Yeerk soldiers standing ready to attack.

"Where are all the other Animorphs?" Jake asked, wanting to avoid using their names if it was at all possible. There were just too many people around to make a mistake like that. Not to mention the Yeerk presence.

"Right there, look," Cassie said, pointing to another out of place sculpture.

This one was of a seven-foot tall grizzly bear, standing erect and perfectly still. But anyone who took the time to look close enough would be able to tell that this grizzly was breathing. There was a hawk perched on the bear's head. There wasn't enough light for even Slade to make out what color the hawk's tail feathers were, but Cassie felt that she could hazard a guess.

This rather odd scene was complemented by the rattlesnake that had coiled itself around the grizzly's left paw. The paw itself was raised toward the ceiling, giving anyone who looked a good view of the snake. There was something comforting about having Rachel and the others so close by, but Cassie wasn't going to think about it too much. Not with Visser Three and a small army of Hork-Bajir were standing pretty much next to her.

They could probably tell that Rachel and the others were there, or Visser Three could have informed them. That is, if his night-vision wasn't as bad as the Hork-Bajir who stood behind him. Cassie suspected that it wasn't, though, since the Visser was glaring at the morphed Animorphs. He _had_ to know they were there, otherwise he'd have tried to make a move by now.

Cassie was so preoccupied with watching Visser Three, that she almost didn't notice the more mundane aspects of their new surroundings. There were, set in between the Animorphs on Cassie's left, and the Yeerks on her right, a row of obviously foam-rubber tombstones that had been topped with gaudy and really fake-looking green skulls. The skulls even had really, really goofy-looking googly eyes.

"Nya-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Beware! All ye, beware the graveyard ghouls!" yet another hidden loudspeaker chanted.

Cassie couldn't really be concerned by a bunch of silly looking props, not when there were so many Yeerk soldiers standing almost close enough for her to reach out and touch them.

"I really like this part!" Jones said, looking around at what were, as far as he was concerned, only very clever props. "The bear is a nice touch, but those big blade monsters are really cool!"

"This is _so_ going to turn ugly," Marco said, lowly enough that only his friends would hear.

"Do we move out now?" Slade asked Jake, leaning forward so that he didn't have to speak any louder than Marco, and so run the risk of someone hearing him.

Jake shook his head, and Slade leaned back in his seat. He didn't relax a hair, though, staying alert to all of the threats in this new environment. The darkness would be both an asset and a disadvantage, the tactical part of Slade's mind informed him. One the one hand, the darkness could be used to conceal them while they morphed.

On the other, it could also be used to hide their enemies. This situation was something that would require careful planning and consideration. Sitting in front of Slade, Cassie was also considering something important. It had occurred to her that Visser Three would want to infest only the high-ranking personnel in Area 51. And one of them was sitting in the car right behind them.

There was no time to think about the potential repercussions now; no time to find a way to be subtle about telling the others what she had just figured out. "They'll go for Torrelli!"

The Animorphs' car had turned forward by now, and had also long since passed by the waiting Yeerks and the other Animorphs. The rest of them would have to move quickly if they wanted to have any hope of joining up with their friends before the battle got really ugly. As the remaining Animorphs piled out of the car, nearly running into each other in their haste and just barely avoiding being cut in half as the car they had been seated in slammed its way through a narrow doorway, they could hear an angry yell and a number of surprised screams.

Pouring on more speed, Jake, Cassie, Marco and Slade managed to get back to where the Visser, his platoon of Hork-Bajir, the remaining Animorphs, and Captain Torrelli were all waiting for them. The four of them stayed in the deep shadows that the low lights didn't even touch, since there were still people inside the ride with them. They were just in time to see the six huge Hork-Bajir bound across the distance that had separated them from Torrelli.

It had been him that they had heard yelling, and some of the security guards accompanying him had been the ones who screamed. One of the ones who had just been staring at the advancing Hork-Bajir suddenly snapped out of his apparent mesmerization and pulled out his sidearm. The Hork-Bajir, dim as their night-sight was, managed to see his aggressive movements for what they were.

Their resulting reaction was not a pleasant one, at least as far as the unfortunate security guard was concerned.

"Aaahhhh! Aaaahhhh! Aaaahhhhhh!" Torrelli heard one of the guards scream. He wanted to know why the man had sounded like he was in pain, but there were six weird _things_ in front of him that were demanding his complete attention.

Five of the six Hork-Bajir picked up the five security guards and threw them out into the scenery. Luckily, none of them landed near the four remaining still-human Animorphs. While the Hork-Bajir were pulling Torrelli out of his car, and being very careful not to so much as scratch him with their blades, the Animorphs who had not yet morphed were moving away from the very real carnage about to be unleashed in the House of Horrors ride. Visser Three had more than likely given them explicit instructions and warnings about what would happen to them if Torrelli ended up with even the slightest injury.

At that moment, Rachel came charging out of the shadows she had been hiding in. Roaring fiercely, Rachel flung Ax's rattlesnake morph at the Hork-Bajir nearest to her. Tobias took off, fighting to gain altitude in the still air of the ride, and managed to gain enough momentum to slash the eyes out of the other attacking Hork-Bajir. With two of the Yeerk soldiers out of commission, that only left the four others. And Visser Three, of course.

Even Rachel's most powerful morph couldn't handle Visser Three, in addition to four more Hork-Bajir. But that didn't mean that Rachel wasn't going to at least try. Even through the semi-darkness, Cassie could swear that she saw Rachel grinning with the grizzly's many sharp teeth. Slamming her huge left paw into the head of another Hork-Bajir that had made the mistake of charging at Torrelli's car. The Controller stumbled backwards a step, before collapsing unconscious to the floor.

(The Andalite Bandits! Here!) Visser Three shouted, enraged that things could have gone so wrong so fast. (We don't have time to deal with them now! As much as I would enjoy killing these annoyances, we have more urgent matters to attend to. Bring the human!)

"We all need to morph, right now," Jake said, looking at each of the four Animorphs with him in turn. "The others are going to need our help. Get into the shadows, and start morphing into your combat morphs."

"Right, Jake," Slade nodded. "Will do."

As the other Animorphs all dashed off to different places, well hidden by the shadows and darkness inside the ride, Cassie had already started morphing. As she always did when these kinds of situations came up, Cassie was morphing into a wolf.

"They're going to take the Captain!" Marco hissed urgently, not wanting to call any Yeerk attention to himself, but wanting to warn the others just the same.

"There's nothing we can do about that right now," Jake said practically. "Just keep morphing, we'll do what we can."

Hidden in another area that was even more shadowed than the one that sheltered Cassie, Slade was focusing on his new panther morph with such intensity that he didn't even hear the conversation that had gone on in front of him. The first thing Slade heard was an ominous grinding sound, but that was more felt than heard, since it was coming from inside of his own body. As Slade focused harder, trying to block out the noise, the changes came faster.

From his crouching position, Slade dropped down to all-fours. The grinding continued unabated, until Slade's human skeleton had been completely remodeled into that of a panther. The major physical changes were complete, then the panther's midnight-black fur spread across Slade's body in a wave. The last things to change were Slade's eyes, going from an intense dark emerald to an intense pale yellow-green.

(I could use some help over here!) Rachel shouted, as she picked up a Hork-Bajir and threw him deep into the scenery.

(We'll be right with you Rachel,) Jake reassured his cousin. (Just give us a little more time.)

(Time's the one thing we always seem to be running out of,) Marco said, as he finished his morph into a gorilla.

The unfortunate Hork-Bajir that Ax had poisoned was starting to stagger, reeling from the effects of the venom in his bloodstream. Unfortunately for the Animorphs, by the time the rest of them were finished morphing and ready to fight, Visser Three and his two remaining Hork-Bajir had managed to escape from their part of the House of Horrors with Captain Torrelli.

And, if all that wasn't enough, there were still people inside the area of the House of Horrors that there Animorphs occupied. Innocent bystanders, as far as any of the Animorphs knew, were still riding by in the same six-seated cars that four of the Animorphs had originally come in on.

"Cool!" one of the few non-military patrons exclaimed, watching as a huge black cat came charging out of the shadows and pounced on one of the big, scary blade monsters that had been attacking the bear. "This part of the ride is excellent! Did you see those big blade monsters? And that big bear? This is so cool!"

This was, as far as the people passing by on the cars knew, just a really good show that The Gardens was putting on for some reason. Little did they know just how much the outcome of this battle could affect them.

"Look over there, it's a werewolf!" the girl was pointing right at Cassie, as the car with her in it passed the other girl by. Luckily for her, Cassie was far enough along with her morph and deep enough in the shadows that she wouldn't be recognized, even by someone who knew her.

Rachel continued to harry the remaining Hork-Bajir who were still standing, roaring and growing in her deep grizzly voice. Tobias was flying around in circles, looking for any of the Hork-Bajir who were still in the area with them. Aximili was likewise looking for more opponents. Cassie looked around at the other Animorphs; Slade had somehow finished morphing before the others and was attacking already, Jake was nearly finished with his tiger morph, and Marco was almost completely a gorilla.

But, no matter how many Hork-Bajir the Animorphs took down, none of that would change the fact that Visser Three had escaped with Captain Torrelli. At that moment, Cassie felt all the wolf's senses 'turn on'. She could now pick up the scent trail that Torrelli and his captors had left. Like any sensible human being, Torrelli had put up a fight, and like any normal human he had lost. Cassie could now smell every dragging step that the Captain had been forced to take.

Following the trail that Torrelli had unintentionally left behind, Cassie made her way deeper into the dark, shadowy parts of the House of Horrors. However, Cassie was not so engrossed in her pursuit that she failed to notice that the remaining Hork-Bajir were retreating.

(Follow them! We can't let them regroup!) Jake exclaimed.

(Right with you, Jake,) Slade said, falling in behind his leader and a bit to the left.

(I am also 'with you', Prince Jake,) Aximili said, also turning and following Jake.

There was an extended ripping-cracking-slamming sound, and then the outer wall of the ride fell away. Beyond the hole were the comparatively bright lights of The Gardens proper. A cursory glance revealed to Cassie, who had arrived before Jake and the others, that Visser Three had sliced the wall open and then had his Hork-Bajir knock it down. To her wolf eyes, after being adapted to the dark for so long, the neon lights were almost painfully bright. But, more important than her discomfort was the fact that Visser Three and five of his six Hork-Bajir were loose in The Gardens.

The sixth, having basically been torn apart by Slade, wasn't going anywhere. Once all of the Animorphs were gathered in front of the hole, Jake led them out into the neon-lit night.

"Help! Someone get me away from these crazy people!"

(Hurry! Get him back to the ship! We can't afford another confrontation with the Andalite Bandits right now!) Visser Three berated his remaining soldiers.

(Follow them!) Jake shouted. (We can't let them get away with the Captain!)

(This is insane!) Marco exclaimed. (Completely insane!)

(Shut up and keep running!) Slade yelled, irritated with Marco's antics.


	95. Parade Rest

Now that the battle had made its way out of the enclosed space of the House of Horrors, the Animorphs, Visser Three, and his Hork-Bajir warriors found themselves in the middle of the Parade of Characters that The Gardens held every night. There were three brass bands, all playing a nice if loud rendition of "Seventy-six Trombones", there were a few clowns, there was a long line of elaborately decorated floats, and there were people dressed up as the namesake 'characters' of the parade.

Cassie liked Looney Tunes, so it would have been fun for her if she had had the time to watch and enjoy the parade. But with Visser Three and a small group of his fellow Yeerks on the loose, there was no time for such mundane things. Cassie's morph was faster than Rachel, and had more endurance than both of the large cats, so she was better suited to catch up to Visser Three and his soldiers before they made it into the parade.

Torrelli was still struggling, making it even harder for the Yeerks to make as much headway as Visser Three would have preferred. The Visser would have ordered that the troublesome human be knocked unconscious, if not for the possibility that one of the overzealous imbeciles who served under him would kill the human in the process.

On a stretch of seemingly clear street, someone in a large, padded Daffy Duck costume jumped right into Visser Three's path. More annoyed than really surprised, the Visser whipped his tail forward and severed the head of the creature blocking his way. Much to Cassie's displeasure, and also to the displeasure of the young woman who had been wearing the costume.

"Hey!" Tamera Collins, who had been having a good time marching in the parade up until this nutjob had destroyed her costume. "What's your _problem_ you psycho?"

(Aaahhhh!) Visser Three stopped in his tracks, confounded and unnerved by the presence of a creature with a smaller, human-looking head under a larger avian one. (What kind of a beast _is_ this thing!)

Visser Three stayed where he was for a few moments longer, trying to understand why and how such things could exist on this would without the Yeerks being aware of them. Then he remembered that he was not in this place to sightsee, as the humans called it. But by then it was too late; the Animorphs had already arrived.

Jake cut loose with a roar that shook Slade's teeth, and seemed to knock the candy out of the hands of the few little kids that were watching the parade. A second later, Slade did the same. Cassie lunged for the Hork-Bajir nearest to her, one that had already come off the worse in a battle with Rachel, and tried to rip his throat out. Though he was wounded, the Yeerk soldier still managed to take a swing at Cassie with his long wrist-blade.

Cassie was still faster than any Hork-Bajir alive, and so she dodged. The blade only cut off some of her fur, a minor loss. The Hork-Bajir was so focussed on Cassie though, that he didn't even hear Slade, silent as any cat, coming up behind him. Bypassing the spiked tail, Slade reared up and dug his claws into the alien's broad back. Pulling down hard enough to strip bark from a tree, Slade tore long gouges into the leathery back of his enemy.

Cassie, taking advantage of the distraction that Slade had provided, was all over the Yeerk soldier in seconds. Sinking her bone-crushing fang-filled jaws deep into various vulnerable places on her opponent, Cassie finally ended the fight by tearing out his throat. Jake and Slade, meanwhile, were making a great deal of trouble for the Yeerks who had attempted to fight them. The two large cats were fighting side by side at the moment, making it all the more difficult for any of the Hork-Bajir to hurt either of them.

Rachel was taking on two Hork-Bajir at once, and handling them rather spectacularly. Her great strength and thick coat of fur lent her an advantage over her extraterrestrial opponents. Marco, who was at a slight disadvantage in claw and blade combat, his morph possessing neither, was using Aximili's rattlesnake morph like a bullwhip. Snapping the Andalite in to bite their opponents, and then pulling him back out once he had done so.

This method was slow, to be sure, but it at least kept either of them from sustaining too many injuries. Slade, seeing the predicament that Marco and Aximili were in, raced over to help. He might not have been all that fond of Marco's habit of making light of serious situations, but the other boy was still a fellow soldier, and so it was Slade's duty to aid him in any way that he could.

As the battle between the Animorphs and the Yeerks raged on, the parade ground began to clear, allowing more room for the combatants to engage. As Slade wrestled an attacking Hork-Bajir to the ground and tore out his eyes; as Jake rolled out of the way of a Hork-Bajir's foot; as Rachel and Marco both began bashing their way through the Hork-Bajir still in their way, the latter carrying Aximili on his right shoulder, the crowd began to cheer.

"Wow!"

"Yeah!"

"Did you see that? That was so cool!"

All of the people who had been watching the parade began to applaud at this point. They all thought it was just some great show that The Gardens was putting on for some reason or another, just like those that had first seen the two groups in the House of Horrors. Only the combatants themselves could understand the urgency of their battle. Not even Captain Torrelli could claim anything like that.


	96. Nocturne Escapade

Leaping over the body of her opponent, Cassie ran flat-out after the Hork-Bajir that was still dragging Captain Torrelli bodily into what remained of the parade. The Captain was still putting up a respectable fight, even after all the time that had gone by. The big Hork-Bajir wove almost gracefully through the people in oversized Looney Tunes costumes, then turned around and barreled through the still occupied bandstand. Cassie was getting closer by the second, ignoring the many people who bumped into her, and the few who tried to pet her.

Putting them all out of her mind helped Cassie to focus on the still-discernable scent trail that Torrelli had left. The other scents down at ground level were, for Cassie at least, nearly overwhelming. But she held on, searching for that one scent that was Torrelli's in the mass of others. Looking right then left, Cassie didn't manage to catch a glimpse of Torrelli through the seething mass of humanity on either side of her.

But she could still pick up his scent, and that trail led left. So Cassie went left. Out of the mass of voices, overlapping each other and making it very hard to discern any one person, Cassie's wolf hearing managed to make out Torrelli's distinctive bellow.

"You people are in cahoots with those darned kids, aren't you!" the outraged captain demanded of the Hork-Bajir.

The Yeerk ignored him, dragging Torrelli past a mother and son pair, and brushing aside the son when he tried to get his picture taken with the 'monster'. Cassie was barreling after him at nearly her top speed, closing the distance between them with sheer acceleration. Slade, having dealt with the Hork-Bajir who had been fighting him, hurried after Cassie.

Cassie caught the sound of running feet, but the tread was even softer than hers, but not by all that much. Not knowing who was following her, Cassie was understandably worried. She couldn't look back, not while she was running, and whoever was chasing her was getting closer. When they finally came up alongside her, Cassie saw that it was Slade who had been following her.

(Slade, what are you doing here?) she asked. (You really frightened me for a minute. I almost thought you were one of those Hork-Bajir.) actually, Cassie hadn't really been sure _what_ Slade had been when she couldn't see him, but that had been the first thing to come to mind.

(I startled you that much?) Slade asked. (I'm sorry, Cassie. I just came to give you some backup. These Hork-Bajir things are tough.)

(Why don't you go help Jake then? I'm sure he could use someone like you with him,) Cassie said, not really sure how to feel about the special treatment Slade insisted on giving her.

(There's no need, all of the others have been taken care of,) Slade said offhandedly. (The one you're chasing is the only one left, and, no offense, but you seem kind of tired. At… at least to me you did…) Slade trailed off, and Cassie thought he seemed embarrassed.

(Thank you, Slade. It's nice the way you keep thinking of me,) Cassie said, not sure exactly how she felt about such preferential treatment but wanting to be polite.

After that, there was no more time for talk. Both of them saw that the crowds had thinned down to almost nothing at this point. They weren't going to get another chance like this for a long time, too long as far as either of them were concerned. Slade, who had been pacing Cassie up till this point, stopped just a second after she did. Before he had a chance to wonder what she was doing, Cassie sprang forward, and Slade did likewise.

The Hork-Bajir who had been dragging Captain Torrelli fell under their combined weight, and the Captain managed to pull himself free before the Hork-Bajir would have fallen on him. He ran, not looking back, like his life depended on it. Which was pretty much the case, as Slade and Cassie both knew.

Just as the Hork-Bajir was about to make his move, Visser Three went racing by, his sharp hooves clattering on the hard asphalt. He was evidently calling for his remaining troops to retreat, all one of them. Slade wanted to go after them, but Cassie managed to convince him that it was best if they all just headed home.

Looking up at the sky, a lot of people were watching the Yeerk Bug fighter that held Visser Three and his single remaining Hork-Bajir warrior. None of the civilians knew quite what to make of the strange blackish insect-looking thing that was flying off over their heads. It had been parked on top of the Alien Adventure Ride, the Visser's idea to hide their ship in plain sight.

So, as the few patrons of The Gardens watched it jet off, there were some who thought that this was another part of the spectacular show that had been put on for this one time that they were all there to enjoy it. A small number even thought that this ship might just be the real thing. Two of the watchers, however, were not at all satisfied by the end of the show they had just seen.

"That's not what an alien spaceship looks like," a young boy who had been watching the entire performance commented. "They got it all wrong."

"They sure did," his grandfather agreed, as if he were some kind of expert on every ship that had been designed and built by the other species in the galaxy. "I was taken aboard a spaceship once. The aliens did all kinds of medical experiments on me. And their ship looked nothing like that."

"Well, it _was_ kind of a nice show, though," the little boy allowed.

"Yes, it was at that. Even if the ending was a letdown."

The boy and his grandfather walked off, hand in hand, never knowing that they had been so very close to one part of the secret war that was even then being fought to preserve the freedom of the people of Earth. Not knowing how near they had been to living, breathing creatures from another planet. Like everyone else, the two of them had enjoyed the spectacle and asked no questions.

A fair distance away from the parade ground, a battered Lance Torrelli was making an effort to appear presentable. Someone, he didn't know whether it was a civilian or one of his own people, had contacted the press. Dealing with reporters was distasteful at the best of times, and this was certainly _not_ the best of times. But, as a protector of the people of the United States, he was obligated to inform them of the threats they were facing.

At least as far as the laws of the government he served would allow, and right now Torrelli was just exceedingly glad that all he had to report were the antics of a bunch of teenage pranksters. Though deep in his mind, in a place Torrelli would never, ever readily acknowledge that he had, Lance Torrelli was beginning to doubt that this had all been something so simple. Those animals, and the things that had been chasing them had looked and felt to _real_ somehow.

Dismissing that line of reasoning as the absurd nonsense it had to be, Torrelli fortified himself for what was coming. Air Force officers, like their counterparts among the Army, Navy, and police forces, hated dealing with reporters. In fact, Torrelli wasn't sure if there was actually a single specimen in all the human race who _liked_ dealing with those bloodsucking leeches.

"Captain Torrelli, would you please tell us what just went on here?" one of the foremost reporters asked. Nothing more or less than a male model with a microphone, as far as Torrelli was concerned. "We were told that there were monsters here, or aliens."

Torrelli huffed, wondering how many times he would be subjected to having to talk about aliens. _Well, I knew the job would be annoying when I took it. Might as well get this over with._

"I can assure you, and the viewing public, that there were no monsters at all in The Gardens. And certainly no aliens," Torrelli said, his voice gruff and harsh from all the annoyance this night had brought him. "The only things that were in this park that shouldn't have been were a bunch of punk kids in stupid costumes."

"So, you vehemently deny the rumors that there were a bunch of aliens that somehow managed to get into the park without ever arousing suspicion until the last minute?"

Torrelli bit back the strong urge to shout 'You're damn right, I do!', and instead thought of a more diplomatic way to phrase his denial. "There is absolutely no reason to believe that this event was anything more than the antics of a bunch of bored, attention-seeking teenagers."

"What about the reports that there were several wild animals involved in the skirmish? And the fact that you yourself, were taken from the House of Horrors ride and dragged across the parade ground?"

"Even I get surprised sometimes," Torrelli admitted grudgingly. "Those kids came out of nowhere, or they might as well have. And none of the security guards spotted them, either," Torrelli snapped.

"So, this was just the work of some kids in Halloween costumes?" another reporter asked.

"Yes. Just a bunch of kids playing a prank," Torrelli reiterated. "And, if I ever manage to catch the ringleaders, I'm going to lock them up for the rest of their natural lives."

"So you already know who was the instigator, or instigators in this case, of this entire debacle?"

"Yes," Torrelli bit out. "Four smart-mouthed, annoying teenagers, going by the names of: Fox Mulder, Cindy Crawford, Dana Scully, and Vincent Valentine. Any information the viewing public can give me that would lead to their arrests would be very much appreciated."

It was only then, after he had finished speaking, that Torrelli noticed that a lot of the reporters were starting to snicker. Not all, but a good percentage seemed to find something very amusing about what Torrelli had just said. A few in the back had even started laughing.

"What's so darn funny!" Torrelli demanded.

"Uhm, you might want to try checking the FBI's X-files division," one of the other reporters suggested, while chuckles and sniggers broke our again from the crowd. "I hear two of your targets work there."

"Yeah, and as for the other guy," more sniggers, louder this time. "Why don't you try looking on the Northern Continent? Or maybe in Nebelhiem? You could probably find Cindy real easy, any guy knows who _she_ is."

By now, it was patently obvious to Torrelli that there was some huge joke that he hadn't been included in. Being out of the loop was a novel experience for Torrelli, but not one he was at all eager to repeat. Glaring at all the people who were having a laugh at his expense, Torrelli decided that he had had enough.

"All right, what _exactly_ is so funny about what I just said!"

"Are you sure you heard those names right?" another reporter asked, over the sniggers of her contemporaries. "Or, maybe you just had a bit too much to drink, sir."

"What!"

"Hey, I was wondering," one of the other male reporters piped up. "You're with the Air Force, right? So what were _you_ doing at a corporate outing for Gondor Industries?"

Torrelli fumed, knowing full well that there was no way in hell that he would ever be allowed to explain the specifics of what he had been doing at this place. "Nevermind," he growled instead. "Forget I said anything."

"Aww come on, sir. Inquiring minds want to know," that same annoying reporter said, grinning smugly at Torrelli's obvious discomfort.

"I said _no comment_," Torrelli spat at the crowd in general and that one guy in particular.

"You know, sir, _we_ have to make a living, too," another of the female reporters put in, somehow managing not to sound whiny or pathetic. "How about giving us something to work with here?"

"No comment." And with that final statement, Torrelli left. Ignoring all the plaintive or demanding calls to return, to give those jackals something _more_. _I really hate the press,_ Torrelli thought as he walked away.


	97. Allegedly Normal Life

Back in the barn at last, Cassie and Slade both demorphed from their bird morphs. The other Animorphs had long since split up to go to their various homes. They were both grateful to be back, though Cassie was a bit more so than Slade, who really would have preferred to go after Visser Three.

"Good night, Slade," Cassie said, once her mouth had finished forming.

"'Night, Cassie," Slade said with a yawn.

As he climbed back into the hayloft, Slade turned to watch Cassie walk out. Once she was gone, he climbed the ladder the rest of the way up.

When Cassie woke up the next morning, she almost couldn't believe that what had happened to her and the others last night was real. It was all just too strange, even compared to all the things that the Animorphs had ever seen and done. Shaking her head, Cassie caught sight of the morning's paper.

Seeing it reminded her of how the whole adventure with Slade had started, and Cassie chuckled in nostalgic good humor. It was strange, the way that things had changed so drastically over the last few days. Not even a week had passed, since they had found Slade on Tuesday.

Looking down at the paper, Cassie saw Torrelli's picture. Wondering what that was about, she picked up the paper and started to read. It was a story about what had happened at The Gardens last night. They hadn't gotten any of the details right, of course, and it was funny to see the explanation Torrelli had thought up.

He was at first quoted as saying that the whole thing was a hoax, a prank pulled off by a bunch of middle-school kids in Halloween costumes. But, when he had named who he thought were the instigators of the prank were: "Fox Mulder"; who Cassie knew was Marco, "Dana Scully"; Rachel, "Vincent Valentine"; Cassie still didn't know why Slade hadn't just used his own name, and "Cindy Crawford"; Cassie had a feeling that Marco wasn't going to let her live that one down anytime soon, the press had decided that he had probably been drunk.

Then, when one of the reporters had asked him what he – an Air Force Captain – was doing at a company outing for Gondor Industries, Torrelli declined to comment. Then he vehemently denied the previous accusations he had made, and then he turned and left. It was kind of funny, reading about how the Captain had managed to make a fool of himself in front of so many people.

Cassie giggled a little, before turning to the more serious business of making breakfast for herself. For some reason she was in the mood for oatmeal this morning, so Cassie pulled out some packets of the instant oatmeal that her mom always made sure they had an ample supply of. Her mom was the one that like oatmeal the most, Cassie and her dad just tolerated it since Aisha was so fond of the stuff.

Putting on some water to boil, Cassie made sure she would have enough for herself even if her mom decided that she wanted some, too. Opening the oatmeal packets, Cassie poured them into the water that was now beginning to bubble. Picking out one of the long wooden mixing spoons from the drawer beside the stove, Cassie twirled it idly between her fingers.

Shaking her head at her sudden bout of inattentiveness, Cassie turned back to the pan of oatmeal on the stove and started stirring it. As she watched the thin, watery mixture slowly start to thicken as she stirred, Cassie again wondered how something so lumpy and unappetizing-looking could end up tasting so good.

__

I guess it's kind of like scrambled eggs that way, Cassie thought. _They don't really look all that appetizing when you look at them, but when someone makes them right they are pretty good._ Looking up at the doorway, thinking that she had heard footsteps, Cassie saw that there was no one there. _Must've been my imagination._

Looking back into the pot, Cassie saw one of the little chunks of dried apple disappear underneath the churning surface of the oatmeal. Apple-cinnamon oatmeal was one of Cassie's favorite kinds, and it was a plus that her mother also liked this kind of oatmeal. Stirring some more, and trying to keep herself from drifting off into a daydream, Cassie listened for her parents' footfalls.

Stirring was boring work, and so Cassie was glad to finally hear the footsteps of at least one of her parents. It turned out to be her father, blinking and seeming to be instinctively heading for the coffee machine. Cassie suppressed a giggle; it was always fun to watch her dad make a bee-line for that particular appliance as soon as he came in.

No matter how tired he looked, her dad could always be counted on to find the coffee pot. It was one of the constants in Cassie's life. Coming in almost on her dad's heels was Cassie's mom. Smiling at the antics of her husband, Aisha walked over to Cassie.

"Well, good morning, Cassie. What are you cooking there?"

"Just some oatmeal. Good morning, mom," Cassie said, as she gave her mother a quick peck on the cheek.

"Oh, oatmeal, great," Aisha kissed Cassie on the top of her head. "You know that's my favorite food."

"Yeah mom. Mine too," Cassie smiled. Sniffing the air, Cassie's smile widened into a grin. "I think it's finally ready. You want me to serve you some, mom?"

Aisha smiled. "Actually, since you were nice enough to make it for us, why don't I serve some for you?"

"Thanks mom," Cassie smiled. "That would be great."

While her mom went to get some bowls and spoons, Cassie went over to get some napkins and a glass of milk for herself, and then sat down at the table. Walter, now holding a second cup of fresh coffee, sat down at the table with Cassie, just as Aisha came over with the bowls of oatmeal. There were spoons stuck into the bowls, and Cassie smiled at how funny they looked.

__

At least the oatmeal's nice and thick, Cassie thought happily. It would have to be, to make the spoons stick up like that. As Cassie started to eat her breakfast, she thought about what she would give Slade for his. Probably some of the oatmeal, if she and her mom didn't end up eating it all, anyway.

__

One less day of school to attend, Cassie thought happily as she climbed out of her dad's car. Cassie also looked forward to the meeting with the other Animorphs that Jake had planned. Even if it _was_ meant to discuss the happenings at The Gardens, that would probably be done with that part of the meeting before any of them got bored with the subject. Humming a quiet tune to herself, Cassie went into the house to make herself a snack, and to get some lunch for Slade.

Cassie sat in the kitchen, eating the small meal that she had made for herself. Slade already had his food, and so now all Cassie had to do was wait for the other Animorphs to arrive.

__

(Cassie, you know I don't like to interrupt you like this, but there are five birds that just flew in. I think the others are here now, at least I'm pretty sure.)

Cassie nodded. If she had been capable of it, Cassie would have thanked Slade right from where she was at the moment. But, lacking his telepathic powers, her gratitude would have to wait until she was in the barn to be expressed. Cassie got up, heading for the door.


	98. Last Words

Walking into the barn, Cassie saw that Slade was just stepping down off the ladder. The other Animorphs had all finished demorphing by the time Cassie had gotten finished with her meal, and now they were just starting to sit down on the hay bales that were scattered around the far side of the barn. Slade waved to her, and then took a place on one of the hay-bales that wasn't being used by anyone else.

Once Cassie had taken a seat herself, Jake stood up and addressed the Animorphs as a whole.

"Okay, so we're all here, does anyone want to talk about what went on last nigh?"

"I just have one question," Rachel spoke up. "Don't you guys think that in all fairness, in all decency, in all kindness, we should try to somehow tell Torrelli and his people that they're all guarding an alien toilet?"

"No, Rachel," Cassie said. "That wouldn't be kind to them at all. All of those people have a meaning to their lives now. Who are wee to destroy all that and make them feel trivial and foolish?"

As was usual, it was Marco who broke the silence that had descended on the Animorphs after that statement. "Ooh wisdom," he mocked with gentle good-humor. "Very deep."

"So, The Most Secret Place on Earth remains a secret," Jake mused. "Maybe that's for the best."

"Could be," Slade said, backing up his leader.

(The Yeerks are going to keep trying to find out what the Air Force is hiding out there,) Tobias reminded them all.

"I know, but Captain Torrelli will be even more on his guard now," Jake said. "It'll be that much harder for Visser Three and his forces to get inside."

"Maybe it really _is_ all for the best," Rachel said thoughtfully. "After all, something like this might just be able to keep Visser Three and his people from doing something dangerous." She shrugged, a contemplative look on her face. "Everyone needs a hobby, some hopeless quest that they can pursue. A purpose in life. A mission."

As Rachel said the last words of her sentence, Rachel looked over at Cassie's jeans. At how short they were.

"When did you buy those things, Cassie? When you were four years old?" Rachel asked, shaking her head at her friend's absolute lack of fashion sense.

"These jeans are perfectly fine," Cassie shot back.

"They _would_ be perfectly fine, if you were expecting a flood," Rachel said smugly.

"Wait!" Cassie exclaimed, holding up her hand to forestall the argument she could see coming. "Isn't that how this whole thing started?"

"Leave Cassie alone," Jake laughed. "There's no way I want to start all of _this_ over again."

"Well… Except for the horse-racing thing," Marco said hopefully. "See, we could have some of us morph into horses. And then the rest could place bets on the people who were---"

Slade clamped his hand over Marco's mouth before the younger boy could go any further. "I think we've all heard _more_ than enough of that, thanks."

Cassie, who had been filling a bucket of water to dump on Marco's head, laughed at the expression on Marco's face. So did Jake, for that matter. In fact, most of the other Animorphs were laughing at the look on Marco's face, as Slade continued to hold his hand over the other boy's mouth.

(Okay, I think Marco gets the idea by now, Slade,) Tobias said, snickering. (You can probably let him go now. Though if he starts talking again, you have my permission to clobber him.)

The rest of the Animorphs laughed, and Slade took his hand away from Marco's mouth.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up," Marco smirked. "But I still say my idea's a---mmff!"

Before Marco could say another word, Slade had again clamped his hand over the other Animorph's mouth.

"Give it up, Marco," Rachel laughed. "This is one game you're not going to win."

Marco rolled his eyes, not being in a position to do much of anything else.

"Okay, now that we've all decided what we're going to do, I guess we can leave now," Jake said, standing up.

Slade let go of Marco and turned to go back up to the hayloft without another word. Marco stuck his tongue out at the older boy as he was passing by, and Slade gave Marco a playful shove in retaliation. The rest of the Animorphs, minus Cassie and Slade of course, began to morph back into birds.

As he climbed back up to the place where he spent most of the day, Slade heard the grinding of bones that meant that his allies were changing back into the bird forms that they had used to get here in the first place. Slade felt no desire to watch as they changed, since having it happen to himself was weird enough. He watched the odd flock fly out, and grinned as the Osprey who had to be Marco tipped a wing to him. Climbing to the top of the hayloft just in time to see the last of the morphed Animorphs disappear out the window, Slade smiled.

It was good to have a purpose in life, even if you didn't know who you were.


	99. The Rebirth

Far away from Slade, under the forest litter that had concealed the Radam's underground base for as long as it had existed, something was happening. One of the teknopods, one that had lain dormant for almost the entire existence of the base itself, was beginning to flash.

Blinking on and off like a strange, organic strobe light, the brittle shell that had formed over the outer membrane of the pod began to crack. The cracks started out small, of course, and then began to spread over the whole of the pod. It would have been an interesting thing to see, had anyone been able to safely witness it.

The pod seemed to shiver as it broke apart, as if the plant was somehow reluctant to release this particular prisoner. But release him it did, as it had been programmed to do. As the shredded remains of the pod collapsed onto the floor of the base, the Teknoman within fell also. He lay on the floor, still curled up in the fetal position he had been in for all the time he had been inside the teknopod.

__

Who…am I? I…remember… Jessy?

As he slowly uncurled his body, the newborn Teknoman thought about the name he had just remembered. Was it his? He didn't know.

__

(Who am I?)

End Part One


End file.
